BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe, CMC – Careless batting and their opponents doggedness eroded the authority of West Indies after a destructive spell from left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie enabled them to dismiss Zimbabwe cheaply in the first Test yesterday.
Nothing epitomised the carelessness of the Windies batting more than the run out of Raymon Reifer for the top score so far of 53 before the visitors reached 133 for four when bad light stopped play six overs early on the first day at the Queen’s Sports Club, for a first innings lead of 18.
Motie improved upon his career-best from the previous Test with 7-37 from 15.4 overs on a slow, but turning pitch, and Jason Holder supported with 2-18 from seven overs as West Indies demolished the Zimbabweans for 115 in their first innings about 40 minutes before tea to gain early control.
“I really enjoyed bowling on this pitch because it is similar conditions to where I live, so it is spin-friendly, and I just had to put the ball in the right areas to reap success,” Motie told reporters after play. “(This performance) means a lot to me because I worked really hard coming through the ranks, so I am really happy with it.”
But the Windies needlessly surrendered a cluster of wickets, including Reifer’s, before stumps were drawn to keep the home team interested in the match, after their own batting failures earlier in the day following their decision to bat first.
Reifer, batting at number three again, clipped pacer Victor Nyauchi through mid-wicket for a deuce to complete his half-century from 76 balls and was gathering runs freely, but a mix-up with vice captain Jermaine Blackwood left him stranded mid-pitch.
The left-hander skipped down the pitch to drive leg-spinner Brandon Mavuta to mid-off and was confident about taking a single, but Blackwood was rooted at the non-striker’s end, and the fielder, Test newcomer Tanaka Chivanga was quick to pick up the ball and throw to the ‘keeper.
“I am pretty happy to get another 50, but I would have liked to carry on, and get an even bigger score,” Reifer said. “I was very disappointed with my dismissal, but such is life. I am really disappointed I am not coming back (on Monday) and looking to get a hundred.”
Exactly two overs later, an unsettled Blackwood was caught at mid-wicket for 22, pulling a long-hop from Mavuta, who was the pick of the Zimbabwe bowlers with 2-24 from 10 overs and created some elements of doubt in the minds of the Caribbean side’s batsmen, as they look to bat their opponents out of the match today. “If we can bat all day and get as big a lead as possible, there are no limits right now,” Reifer said. “We will just probably look to bat the entire day because we have got a good start from Motie helping us to get those wickets, so hopefully we can get a big total and bat once in the game.”
Reifer came to the crease after West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite fell to left-arm spinner Wellington Masakadza for the third time in the series, trapped lbw for seven playing back, instead of forward, to an arm ball keeping low in the penultimate over before tea.
Reifer and fellow left-hander Tagenarine Chanderpaul carried the Caribbean side 21 for one at tea, and emerged after the break to bat with composure and fluency, and put on 73 with few alarms for the second wicket.
The pair neutralised the threat of Masakadza with Chanderpaul drilling him past mid-off for his third four, and Reifer lofting him over mid-on for his second four and slog-sweeping him over mid-wicket for six. Chanderpaul batted with much more freedom than he did during his double hundred in the previous Test, but Mavuta outfoxed him and got him caught at fine leg for 36 from a top-edged sweep about an hour before the scheduled close, bringing Blackwood to the crease.
Earlier, Motie became the leading bowler in the series with 13 wickets after he surpassed the career-best four he took in the Zimbabwe second innings in the first Test last week at the same venue that almost ushered West Indies to victory.
He extracted helpful turn from the surface, and except for opener Innocent Kaia with 38, Donald Tiripano 23 not out, and their captain Craig Ervine 22, the Zimbabweans, playing without first Test batting saviour Gary Ballance because of illness, were powerless to stop him. Pacer Alzarri Joseph made the breakthrough after the hosts started slowly and he got opener Tanunurwa Makonio caught behind for a duck inside the first hour.
Four wickets – two apiece to Holder and Motie – in the second hour gave West Indies a firm grip and sent Zimbabwe crashing to 70 for five at lunch.
In successive overs, Holder got Chamu Chibhabha caught at backward point for 10 from a leading edge, and Kaia caught at first slip edging a loose drive before the Zimbabweans had reached 50, leaving Motie to carve up the rest of the batting.
The Guyanese left-arm spinner got Milton Shumba, one of the three changes to home team’s line-up, caught at forward short leg for three, and Tafadzwa Tsiga caught at cover for a duck before lunch, and he returned after the interval to mop up the rest in the face of mild resistance from the hosts.
Shumba, Tiripano, and Chivanga replaced Ballance, Evans, and Richard Ngarava in the Zimbabwe line-up, and Shannon Gabriel replaced fellow pacer Kemar Roach for West Indies.
The two-Test series is level 0-0, after the first Test that ended last Wednesday at the same venue was draws.