Brendan Taylor’s brilliant hundred nearly took Zimbabwe to a memorable win over New Zealand but the hosts’ nerves got the better of them as they collapsed dramatically after tea to lose by 34 runs.
Taylor scored a high-quality century under pressure to put Zimbabwe in a winning position at tea but was dismissed for 117 by Chris Martin just after the break. Tatenda Taibu’s 63 was the other highlight of the hosts’ innings.
For New Zealand, the hero was debutant Doug Bracewell, who picked up a five-wicket haul and was ably supported by Daniel Vettori (three for 71), as Zimbabwe collapsed to 331 all out, with less than six overs left.
New Zealand captain Ross Taylor was delighted at the narrow win.
“It was a hell of a Test match,” he said. “This was my first Test as captain and I don’t think there would’ve been many harder introductions to Test captaincy.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 6th, 2011.
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