Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), Aug 7 (AP) Brendan Taylor made a resolute return to international cricket after a ban of more than three years but his Zimbabwe teammates struggled to cope with an all-out New Zealand pace attack in the second test on Thursday.
First test standout Matt Henry and debutant pace bowler Zakary Foulkes picked up two wickets each to leave Zimbabwe in trouble at 67-4 by lunch on Day 1.
With wickets falling all around him in the opening session, Taylor played with lot of grit and was unbeaten on 33 off 89 balls that featured four boundaries. Taylor replaced Ben Curran at the top order in one of the two changes Zimbabwe made from the first test.
Taylor’s 3 1/2-year ban for violating ICC’s anti-corruption codes ended late last month and he was immediately included in the second test squad.
He had a shaky return to international cricket when Jacob Duffy’s short ball flew off the edge of his bat and went over the head of the wicketkeeper to fine leg boundary for four.
But Taylor grew in confidence against some steady bowling by four New Zealand fast bowlers while his his teammates had similar struggles to the first test, which New Zealand won by nine wickets inside three days.
Henry struck off his ninth ball of the match when Will Young took a smart catch of Brian Bennett in the second slip as the opener couldn’t get off the mark. Henry then struck again in his nine-over opening spell when he pinned Nick Welch (11) leg before wicket off a delivery that nipped back into the right-handed batter.
Foulkes continued to trouble the top-order batters and beat the outside edge of Sean Williams’ bat a number of times before the left-hander finally edged one to Young in the second slip.
Captain Craig Ervine (7) added 24 runs with Taylor but Foulkes struck in the last over before the lunch break as Young took his third catch in the slips cordon.
New Zealand, already without several star players like Kane Williamson, Kyle Jamieson and Glenn Phillips for the series, suffered twin blows when fast bowlers Nathan Smith and Will O’Rourke were ruled out after picking up injuries in the first test.
Michael Bracewell also left the team to play in The Hundred in England.
The Black Caps awarded test caps to fast bowlers Duffy, Matthew Fisher and Foulkes as it opted to go with four pace bowlers, including Henry, who bagged a nine-wicket haul in the first test. (AP) AM AM AM
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