It was a very good effort to get 20 wickets: Kane Williamson

After dominating the hosts comfortably for the first three days, New Zealand entered Day four with a hope of wrapping off the game quickly and pocket the match. But, there was a slight twist in the plans as the Zimbabweans decided to fight back and delay the victory process for the visitors till the last session of the day.

Skipper Graeme Cremer and Sean Williams batted stubbornly and tested the patience of the Kiwi bowlers for almost whole part of the day, playing out 33 overs between them before the Kiwis could finally polish off the batting line-up and post an emphatic win by an innings and 117 runs. Kane Williamson, New Zealand captain was pleased with the perseverance shown by the bowlers.

With little help from the pitch for the pacers, the visiting bowlers had a tough time finding ways to get rid of the pair. Williams played with a bit of counter-attacking nature and registered the fastest ever century by a Zimbabwean while the skipper chose to simply consume the deliveries.

“The way we bowled in the first innings was a huge part of how we got ahead. When you are trying to bowl that again, it’s going to be extremely challenging,” Kane Williamson said. “Sometimes, on surfaces like this one, you need to try and be a little bit creative. You want to try and make things hostile and difficult but you also need to be patient and build pressure.

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“It was a very good effort to get 20 wickets. We knew it was going to be tough. We had to fight very hard to pick up the wickets that we did. It’s about thinking on your feet and staying ahead of the game. The bowlers did a fantastic job which certainly makes any captain’s job easier. The spinner’s bowled well and the seamers certainly led the way which was great,” he added.

Even as Trent Boult was the most successful bowler in the second innings, it was Neil Wagner who impressed with his bowling performance in the match. After troubling the Zimbabwean batsmen with a barrage of short-pitched deliveries in the first innings (in which he scalped six wickets), he managed to get the ball to reverse swing in the second essay.