Windies batsmen struggle again

West Indies got a reasonable start from Campbell and left-handed partner Adrian Griffith. They carried the total to 36 without loss at tea. Ten minutes after the break, Zimbabwe broke through. Griffith, on the backfoot looking to drive, dragged a delivery from Neil Johnson into his stumps to be bowled for a painstaking six off 74 balls lasting just over 90 minutes. Campbell was already playing his strokes.

He struck three fours in leg-spin bowler Brian Murphy’s first over before tea and continued in the same vein afterwards. Left-hander Chris Gayle was just getting into the act when he fenced at a ball angled across him from fast bowler Henry Olonga to give wicketkeeper Andy Flower a comfortable catch.

Two wickets in 19 balls, one each to Murphy and left-arm fast-medium bowler Bryan Strang, destablised West Indies and left them 85 for four. Campbell, earlier dropped on 26 by his namesake Alistair Campbell at second slip off Johnson, allowed the former Zimbabwe captain a chance to redeem himself when he gave him catching practice at slip off Murphy.

Four overs later, Strang got left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul to edge a forward defensive shot to wicketkeeper Flower as West Indies ended a day that started brightly in gloom. Young bucks Reon King and Franklyn Rose, bowled their hearts out for West Indies for just over an hour to restrict Zimbabwe to 268 for nine.

For once, their work was undone by aging warriors Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh, who could not sustain the intensity and Zimbabwe showed there was some sting in their tail through a record last-wicket stand between Stuart Carlisle and Henry Olonga.

Overnight 220 for five, Zimbabwe were terrorised by King and Rose to reach 286 for nine at lunch. King generated great pace from the hard, true pitch to bag three wickets for 22 runs from 8.2 overs in the period on his way to career-best figures of five for 51 from 23 overs. Rose gave him essential support at the other end and got appreciable movement. The record would show he took just one for 26 from eight overs during that time, but all the batsmen were made to play and miss quite frequently.

Carlisle and Olonga, unbeaten on 22, added 54 for the last wicket to add beef to their side’s total. The stand broke the record of 44 between Streak and Charlie Lock against South Africa at Harare in the 1995-96 home series. Walsh, who now has 432 Test wickets in 114 Tests to pull ahead of Sir Richard Hadlee of New Zeaand on 431, ended with figures of two for 46 from 22.4 overs. He is three wickets short of the world record of 434 held by India’s Kapil Dev.

ZIMBABWE 1st Innings

G Flower c Jacobs b Walsh 2
T Gripper c Walsh b King 11
M Goodwin run out 113
N Johnson c Gayle b King 0
A Flower b Rose 66
B Murphy B Rose 0
A Campbell lbw b King 1
S Carlisle c Jacobs b Walsh 44
H Streak b King 2
B Strang c Jacobs b King 13
H Olonga not out 22
Extras (b4, lb12, w2, nb16) 34
Total (all out) 308
Fall of wickets:1-5, 2-40, 3-40, 4-216, 5-216, 6-236, 7-229, 8-234, 9-254
Bowling: Ambrose 25-8-36-0 (nb6); Walsh 22.4-6-46-2 (nb3); King 23-8-51-5; Rose 24-8-69-2 (nb7, W1); Gayle 10-0-46-0 (W1); Adams 9-2-32-0; Chanderpaul 2-0-12-0

West Indies 1st innings

A Griffith b Johnson 6
S Campbell c Campbell b Murphy 48 BR>C Gayle c A Flower b Olonga 13
S Chanderpaul c A Flower b Strang 12
J Adams not out 9
W Hinds not out 12
Extras (lb1, nb5) 6
Total (4 wkts) 106
Bowling:Olonga 15-4-27-1; Strang 12-6-14-1 (nb1); Johnson 12-5-20-1 (nb4)