Santner Guides New Zealand to First Test Win Over Zimbabwe – SUCH TV

New Zealand captain Mitch Santner credited a “great collective performance” for his side’s dominant nine-wicket victory over Zimbabwe on the third day of the first Test at Queens Sports Club on Friday.

While praising the bowlers for their outstanding efforts, Santner noted that the team’s batting still left room for improvement.

New Zealand’s pace attack, led by Matt Henry, dismissed Zimbabwe for 149 in the first innings and 165 in the second, securing a commanding 158-run lead.

The Black Caps required just eight runs to seal the win.

Henry, who claimed nine wickets for 90 runs across both innings, was named Player of the Match for his match-winning performance.

“There was more in it [the pitch] than we thought. We held our lengths and lines,” said Santner, who captained New Zealand for the first time in a Test in the absence of Tom Latham with a shoulder injury.

It was New Zealand’s first Test match of the year and Henry’s performance came immediately after a triangular T20 series won by New Zealand in Harare, where Henry was player of the tournament.

“With the chop and change in formats, you’ve got to trust the work you’ve put in,” said Henry. “When you have assistance [from conditions], it was great we were able to exploit it.”

New Zealand were bowled out for 307 in their first innings, with the only major contributions coming from Devon Conway (88) and Daryl Mitchell (80).

“We could have batted a bit better,” said Santner. “We had good intent. We talked about getting partnerships together but didn’t have many significant ones.”

Santner said there was concern about the condition of seamer Nathan Smith, who took three for 20 in the first innings of just his third Test but could not take the field in the second innings because of an abdominal injury.

“I feel for him. He bowled so well in the first innings but it doesn’t look good for him,” said Santner.

Zimbabwe captain Craig Ervine said his batsmen had shown more application than they did in two recent Tests against South Africa in Bulawayo.

“There was a fair bit in the wicket but the guys tried to grind it out,” he said.

Ervine said a key passage of play was on the first evening when Conway and Will Young put on 92 without loss for the first wicket despite Zimbabwe bowling well.

“I haven’t seen as much lateral movement as there was here for a while. We could have easily picked up two or three [wickets].”

Santner took four for 27 in the second innings, while Henry and Will O’Rourke picked up three wickets each Veteran left-handers Sean Williams (49) and Craig Ervine (22) shared a fifth wicket stand of 57, while wicket-keeper Tafadzwa Tsiga (27) and fast bowler Blessing Muzarabani (19) put on 36 for the ninth wicket to make New Zealand bat again.

New Zealand were hampered by the absence of Smith and O’Rourke, who was feeling stiffness after his morning spell. The teams meet again in the second Test at the same venue from Thursday.