West Indies captain, Kraigg Brathwaite is not letting his guard down for the second Test against Zimbabwe which begins today in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe and is predicting that the hosts will come out blazing.
The series hangs in the balance with this Test after the two sides enjoyed batting success over the course of the last Test which ended in a draw.
It was only the sixth time in Test cricket that the first three innings of a match ended in declarations.
Records tumbled for both sides, moreso West Indies with Tagenarine Chanderpaul scoring an unbeaten double ton in only his third Test while Brathwaite himself chalked up 182, his 12th ton that ensured the first triple-century opening stand for West Indies. Raymond Reifer and Jermaine Blackwood also notched up half-centuries while for Zimbabwe, Gary Ballance became only the second player in history to score a ton for two nations as he reached 137 and Innocent Kaia brought up a maiden fifty.
Brandon Mavuta bagged a five-wicket haul for Zimbabwe while West Indies’ Gudakesh Motie
grabbed a four-wicket haul of his own.
“We are looking forward to it, obviously unfortunately we didn’t get the full days in the first Test so I’m looking forward to the guys going out there and having a good all-round game. The main thing is not taking Zimbabwe for granted,” the captain said ahead of the contest.
Brathwaite hinted at a possible change in the bowling line up but reckoned that the bowlers were decent in the first Test so there wouldn’t be much changes to the dynamic of the team.
Brathwaite explained, “We’ve obviously seen Zimbabwe put up a lot of fight, especially with the bat and you know Gary scoring a magnificent hundred so it shows Zimbabwe are coming to fight and not just going to roll over…We have to go with a clear mindset and don’t take them for granted.”
West Indies Squad: Kraigg Brathwaite (C), Jermaine Blackwood, Nkrumah Bonner, Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Roston Chase, Joshua Da Silva, Shannon Gabriel, Kemar Roach, Jason Holder, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Raymon Reifer, Devon Thomas, Jomel Warrican, Gudakesh Motie
Zimbabwe Squad: Gary Ballance, Chamunorwa Chibhabha, Tanaka Chivanga, Craig Ervine (c), Bradley Evans, Joylord Gumbie, Innocent Kaia, Tanunurwa Makoni, Wellington Masakadza, Kudzai Maunze, Brandon Mavuta, Richard Ngarava, Victor Nyauchi, Milton Shumba, Donald Tiripano, Tafadzwa Tsiga.
