Photo Credit: Cricket West Indies
West Indies will be looking to pushing for a victory and a series win when they return to the Queens Sports Club to face Zimbabwe in the second Test Match. The two teams played to a tense draw in the first contest earlier this week and it’s all to play for when play gets going on Sunday at 10am (4am Eastern Caribbean/3am Jamaica).
West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite is excepting another good all-round game from his team but is by no means taking the Zimbabwe team for granted and has been stressing that amongst his players.
“We’ve obviously seen Zimbabwe put up a lot of fight, especially on Day 4 when we saw Gary (Ballance) scoring a magnificent hundred. So, it goes to show that Zimbabwe are going to come and fight, it’s not just a rollover. From the start, I said that we cannot take any team for granted. They may not be number one in the world but in their home conditions, they will play well. We have to go in with a clear mindset.” Brathwaite stated to CWI Media.
This will be the 12th Test Match between the two teams and the sixth at the scenic Bulawayo venue. So far West Indies have recorded seven wins with four draws.
On the final day, last Wednesday, Zimbabwe withstood a strong West Indies effort to force a result on the last day’s play as they finished on 134-6. Zimbabwe were set 272 to win with 49 overs left on the final afternoon, but never seriously chased their target and were on 83-2 in the 23rd over before spin bowlers Gudakesh Motie (4-50) and Roston Chase (2-9) sent late flutters through the home dressing room.
In the first innings, captain Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul set a new West Indies record of 336 runs for an opening Test partnership on the third day, before declaring on 447-6. Zimbabwe replied with 379-9, including an unbeaten 137 on debut from Balance, a former England player in his first match for his native Zimbabwe.
FULL SQUAD
Kraigg Brathwaite (Captain)
Jermaine Blackwood (Vice-Captain)
Nkrumah Bonner
Tagnarine Chanderpaul
Roston Chase
Joshua Da Silva
Shannon Gabriel
Jason Holder
Alzarri Joseph
Kyle Mayers
Gudakesh Motie
Raymon Reifer
Kemar Roach
Devon Thomas
Jomel Warrican
MATCH SCHEDULE
4-8 February: 1st Test at Queens Sports Club – Match Drawn
12-16 February: 2nd Test at Queens Sports Club
Name of Author: Cricket West Indies
Cricket West Indies (CWI) governs cricket across the West Indies, a confederation of Caribbean countries. Originally established as the West Indies Cricket Board of Control in the 1920s, it became the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in 1996 and was rebranded as Cricket West Indies in May 2017 as part of a restructuring effort.
