Graeme Cremer takes 4/64, Zimbabwe bowl West Indies out for 219 in first Test
Graeme Cremer picked up 4/64 as Zimbabwe bowled West Indies out for 219 on the first day of the first Test in Harare. For the visitors, Shai Hope scored an unbeaten 90 to continue his great form.
Captain Graeme Cremer took four wickets as Zimbabwe restricted West Indies to 219 all out on the opening day of the first Test at the Queens Sports Club on Saturday.
Zimbabwe reached 19 for no loss in reply at the close with debutant opener Solomon Mire on 17 not out and his partner Hamilton Masakadza yet to get off the mark.
Cremer (four for 64) was the pick of the bowlers with his leg-breaks on a turning wicket and was superbly supported by all-rounder Sean Williams (three for 20) as eight of the West Indies wickets fell to spin.
Shai Hope was left stranded on 90 not out in the visitors’ innings as he ran out of partners, with the only other meaningful score coming from opener Kieran Powell (56).
Zimbabwe have recalled experienced batsman Brendan Taylor and seamer Kyle Jarvis for the first test of the two-match series.
Cremer spell of 3 for 2 in four overs proved to be decisive and Sean Williams said that it was a sluggish surface.
“Between Cremer and I, we just tried to keep the squeeze on as much as possible, especially to Hope because we knew his hundred was coming up and we didn’t want him to have any strike,” said Williams.
With Cremer finishing the innings with two wickets in two balls, Hope was denied the opportunity to score a third Test century in as many matches.
Although Zimbabwe closed the day trailing by just 200 runs, Hope said there had been mitigating factors for the low West Indian total.
“Honestly, it was a very slow outfield. So that 219 could easily have been closer to 300,” he said.
“When I was batting I hit quite a few balls through the gap, but scoring was never easy. (219) was under par, and under what we were expecting, but I still think we have a chance.”
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