In a Test match being played in fast-forward mode, 11 wickets fell on the second day at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo as West Indies surged into the ascendancy. Leg-spinner Devendra Bishoo was the catalyst for the turnaround, scything through Zimbabwe’s top order to finish with 5-79.
His first ball of the morning was hit for six, but Bishoo soon found his rhythm. In an unbroken 23-over spell on either side of lunch, he undid all of the hard work done by Zimbabwe’s bowlers, with spin, bounce and accuracy. The hosts were bowled out for 159 during the extended post-lunch session, and by the close West Indies had stretched their lead to 148, with Kraigg Brathwaite and Kyle Hope adding an unbeaten 63 for the second wicket.
For a while, it appeared that Zimbabwe might continue to chug along gamely despite the early loss of Solomon Mire. But once Bishoo settled, West Indies made regular inroads as Zimbabwe lost 9-68 from a comfortable 91-1.
Hamilton Masakadza, who had muscled Bishoo’s opening delivery over long on for six, could not smother the turn of a fizzing leg-break and feathered an edge through to wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich for 42 – the highest score of Zimbabwe’s innings. Brendan Taylor’s second coming then lasted all of seven deliveries before he reverse swept Bishoo into Jermaine Blackwood’s hands at slip, the fielder having moved in anticipation of the stroke.
With his dismissal Zimbabwe slipped to 93-3, and Sean Williams endured a working-over against the pace of Shannon Gabriel as the hosts went into the lunch interval without further loss. At that point, the innings – and the match – was still in the balance, but the afternoon belonged entirely to West Indies.
Bishoo’s effort was well backed up by the pace attack, who utilised the dryness of the surface to extract significant reverse swing. Kemar Roach had a flat-footed Sean Williams caught behind wafting lazily at one that left him off the track, while Jason Holder, hiding the shiny side of the ball in his hands during his run-up, castled Malcolm Waller with one that hooped in from outside off to beat a loose defensive poke. Between times, Bishoo bowled unchanged and found regular success against an increasingly jittery middle order.
Sikandar Raza looked a little ungainly against the quicks, and positively frenetic against spin. He might have been stumped very early on, had the ball not deviated off his elbow and away from Dowrich, but kept using his feet and eventually swiped underneath a flighted delivery to top-edge a catch to Gabriel at long off.
That gave Bishoo his third, with Zimbabwe still 96 in arrears. Straight after the afternoon drinks break, he had his fourth, finally getting the better of Craig Ervine with one that went straight on with the arm to beat the left-hander’s sweep and strike him right in front of middle stump. With Bishoo ragging it square from one end and the pace attack reversing the ball from the other end, full capitulation from Zimbabwe seemed only a matter of time.
Regis Chakabva flapped a half-hearted cut tamely to backward point to give Bishoo his fourth five-wicket haul in Test cricket – and his third away from home. When Graeme Cremer inside-edged a drive off Holder Zimbabwe were 147-9. The last pair of Chris Mpofu and Kyle Jarvis added just 12 more before Mpofu nicked off to a length delivery from Gabriel. (ESPNCricinfo)
