An aggressive innings of 119 by Sean Williams held up NZ’s march to victory by an innings and 117 runs in the first Test against Zimbabwe.
Williams smacked 21 fours off 148 balls as he and Graeme Cremer put on 118 in 33 overs until the captain was trapped lbw by legbreak bowler Ish Sodhi for 33, coming off a more sedate 130 balls.
In truth, Williams’ innings had an element of devil-may-care, for Zimbabwe had resumed play on the fourth day at 121-5, trailing New Zealand by 291 with just five wickets in hand. The visitors had taken the game away with their first-innings offering of 576, in reply to Zimbabwe’s 164.
The second innings of 295 was at least a more respectable scoreline, especially after Zimbabwe had been 17-4 after 3.3 overs. Craig Ervine registered a spirited 50 off 60 balls in a stand of 69 with Sikandar Raza, who hit eight fours in his 37 off 29 balls.
It was New Zealand’s second-biggest win after they had beaten Zimbabwe by an innings and 294 in Harare in 2005.
Photo: AFP
