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BULAWAYO: Former Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor top-scored in his first Test match after a lengthy ban but could not prevent New Zealand dominating the first day of the second Test on Thursday.
Taylor made 44 as Zimbabwe were bundled out for 125 by fast bowlers Matt Henry (5-40) and debutant Zakary Foulkes (4-38) at Queens Sports Club.
New Zealand finished the first day 49 runs ahead, reaching 174 for one at the close.
Devon Conway (79 not out) and Will Young (74) put on 162 for the first wicket before Young was bowled off an inside edge by Trevor Gwandu shortly before the close.
Taylor, 39, was banned for three-and-a-half years in January 2022 for breaching the International Cricket Council’s anti-corruption code as well as a drugs offence.
He had not played Test cricket since captaining Zimbabwe against Bangladesh in Harare in July 2021 in a match in which he scored 81 and 92.
The former captain opened the batting and saw four wickets fall to Henry and Foulkes before he was fifth out, caught at cover off Henry with the total on 83. He faced 107 balls and hit six fours.
Foulkes and fellow fast bowlers Jacob Duffy and Matthew Fisher all made their Test debuts, with Nathan Smith and Will O’Rourke injured and Michael Bracewell released to play in the Hundred competition in England.
Fisher claimed his first Test wicket when he had last man Tanaka Chivanga caught at mid-off.
New Zealand were again captained by Mitch Santner after regular captain Tom Latham failed a fitness test on an injured left shoulder.
Henry continued in the outstanding form in Zimbabwe which earned him player of the series honours in a Twenty20 triangular series and player of the match in the first Test, which New Zealand won by nine wickets at the same venue last week.
It was Henry’s sixth five-wicket haul in Tests. Foulkes dismissed the experienced duo of Sean Williams and captain Craig Ervine, swinging the ball away from the two left-handers.
In a near-repeat of the first day of the first Test, Conway and Young built on the work of their bowlers and laid the foundation for a big lead.
SCOREBOARD
ZIMBABWE (1st Innings):
B. Bennett c Young b Henry 0
B. Taylor c Santner b Henry 44
N. Welch lbw Henry 11
S. Williams c Young b Foulkes 11
C. Ervine c Young b Foulkes 7
S. Raza c Ravindra b Foulkes 5
T. Tsiga not out 33
T. Gwandu lbw Foulkes 0
V. Masekesa b Henry 1
B. Muzarabani b Henry 3
T. Chivanga c Santner b Fisher 4
EXTRAS (B-1, LB-2, NB-1, W-2) 6
TOTAL (all out, 48.5 overs) 125
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-1 (Bennett), 2-30 (Welch), 3-43 (Williams), 4-67 (Ervine), 5-83 (Taylor), 6-83 (Raza), 7-83 (Gwandu), 8-94 (Masekesa), 9-100 (Muzarabani)
BOWLING: Henry 15-3-40-5 (1w), Duffy 10-0-24-0 (1nb), Foulkes 16-5-38-4 (1w), Fisher 6.5-1-16-1, Santner 1-0-4-0
NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings):
D. Conway not out 79
W. Young b Gwandu 74
J. Duffy not out 8
EXTRAS (LB-10, NB-3) 13
TOTAL (for one wicket, 39 overs) 174
FALL OF WICKET: 1-162 (Young)
STILL TO BAT: H. Nicholls, R. Ravindra, D. Mitchell, T. Blundell, M. Santner, M. Henry, M. Fisher, Z. Foulkes
BOWLING: Muzarabani 13-2-54-0, Chivanga 7-3-42-0 (3nb), Gwandu 7-0-31-1, Williams 8-0-23-0, Masekesa 4-0-14-0
Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2025
