The opening Test against Zimbabwe ended in a draw but besides Gudakesh Motie’s career-best effort to keep West Indies in conflict for an extraordinary victory late in the fifth day.
Motie picked up 4 for 50 in 24 overs after West Indies set Zimbabwe a target of 272 in roughly an hour and a half, leaving the hosts in serious trouble. However, rookie wicketkeeper Tafadzwa Tsiga made an unbeaten 24 off 83 balls to save his team.
Tanunurwa Makoni’s two fours in the opening over, which was bowled by Kemar Roach, showed that Zimbabwe had a good start to the chase. However, Motie struck quickly as he tricked Makoni into a drive and grabbed him behind for 9.
Although Alzarri Joseph’s pace scared Chamu Chibhabha, he managed a solid cover drive off Roach. Joshua Da Silva was caught off guard when the fast bowler produced a thick outside edge off Chibhabha’s bat, and the ball went to the left of first slip.
Before Kaia threw a straightforward catch to Kraigg Brathwaite at midwicket to hand Motie his second wicket, Kaia and Chibhabha added 47 for the second wicket.
Next, Chibhabha left the game after pushing a length ball from Roston Chase to Jermaine Blackwood at slip, who made a brilliant catch to his right. Motie then struck once more, dropping Zimbabwe to 83 for 4 with just over 1.5 hours of play remaining in the day.
Gary Ballance and Tsiga, on the other hand, took a reasoned approach and assisted Zimbabwe in moving closer to safety. West Indies made several attempts, including Jason Holder bowling outbreaks, but the pair stayed strong for 19 overs.
The breakthrough came next when Ballance was strangled by Chase down the leg side, and in the subsequent over, Motie trapped Brad Evans in front. The first Test ended in a draw, but Tsiga remained steady, and Wellington Masakadza faced 36 balls without scoring before the two teams shook hands.
Before that, Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Brathwaite became the first ever duo and 11th and 12th batsmen, respectively, to bat on all five days of a Test when they walked out on the fifth day. But on Wednesday, the duo didn’t stick around for very long.
In the ninth over of the day, Evans took his first Test wicket as he broke through Chanderpaul’s defenses. He managed to swipe one back into the left-hander, who was playing away from the body, from around the wicket as the ball took a thin inside edge and pinged back his middle stump. Masakadza quickly put Brathwaite in the lead for the second time throughout the Test.
At that point, Zimbabwe appeared to have a chance, as Craig Ervine used unusual fields to misjudge the West Indies batsman. Blackwood and Raymon Reifer, though, remained reliable. The two played their shots regularly and easily because the surface was still mostly true.
The more aggressive player, Reifer, launched his boundary reply with a superb cover drive off Masakadza.
Blackwood batted more defensively and early in his innings even failed to knock away a few short deliveries. He hit a bottom edge between the wicketkeeper’s legs for his maiden boundary, but he quickly gained confidence and smashed a six and a four in the final over before lunch.
Ervine made changes, but Reifer and Blackwood continued to bat continuously as West Indies led by 199 runs as they entered the break.
After the break, the hitters increased their scoring rate, scoring three fours in the first three overs. Reifer’s powerful drive through midwicket helped him earn his first Test fifty, and Blackwood quickly reached his 17th.
The two also quickly brought up the 100-run stand, and it was clear that West Indies were expecting to make a declaration at some point during the session.
Masakadza quickly eliminated Reifer and Blackwood after that, and Evans had Chase nick one to the wicketkeeper.
The on-field soft signal was not out, thus the third umpire had to be requested. However, replays made it extremely clear that the ball had taken the outside edge of Chase’s bat and struck the ground at the same time.
With West Indies declaring an hour into the second session and setting Zimbabwe 272 in 49 overs, Kyle Mayers and Da Silva were able to hit a couple boundaries. Soon after the thick clouds that were gathering produced some rain and delayed play, Zimbabwe’s openers stepped out to bat.
The players had an early tea break during the wait, which ended up being roughly 25 minutes, and no overs were missed.