New Zealand-Zimbabwe Test ends in draw

Those to depart were Guy Whittall for six and Gavin Rennie for 37. Stuart Carlisle was not out 16 and Alistair Campbell had not scored.

New Zealand declared its second innings closed on 153 for four an hour before the tea break, giving the tourists a minimum of 43 overs to score their first Test win over the home side.

Earlier in the day Zimbabwe cut short its first innings on 340 for six, having added 52 runs to their overnight score before captain Heath Streak gave New Zealand the chance to set the tourists a final innings’ run chase.

Streak was unbeaten on 19 and Trevor Madondo was not out 74, his maiden Test half century.

Chris Martin took the only Zimbabwean first-innings wicket to fall today when he had Doug Marillier caught for 28 by wicketkeeper Adam Parore.

The dismissal gave Martin his first five-wicket bag in just his fourth Test.

He had figures of five for 71 off 32.5 overs. His only blemish was in the field when he dropped a simple chance offered by Gavin Rennie in the second innings off legspinner Brooke walker.

new Zealand captain Stephen Fleming top-scored in New Zealand’s second innings with 55 while Nathan Astle was unbeaten on 51, giving him a fine double for the match after he scored a Test-best 141 in the first innings.

New Zealand opener Matt Horne had a dismal return to the Test arena after injury, scoring one in the first innings and a duck today. He was making his return after breaking a finger on the tour of Zimbabwe in September.

The teams play the first of three one-dayers on Tuesday in Taupo.

New Zealand (1st Innings): 487-7 decl.

Zimbabwe (1st Innings): Gavin Rennie c Parore b McMillan 93; Guy Whittall b Martin 9; Stuart Carlisle c Horne b Martin 0; Alistair Campbell lbw Martin 24; Andy Flower c Parore b Martin 79; Tony Madondo not out 74; Doug Marillier c Parore b Martin 28; Heath Streak not out 19; Extras (b-3, lb-9, nb-2): 14; Total (for 6 wkts decl): 340
Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-23, 3-66, 4-196, 5-237, 6-295.
Bowling: Chris Martin 32.5-11-71-5, Shayne O’Connor 16-7-29-0, Paul Wiseman 54-13-131-0, Brooke Walker 22-1-68-0, Craig McMillan 9-4-22-1, Nathan Astle 5-2-7-0.

New Zealand (2nd Innings): Matthew Horne c Flower b Streak 0; Matthew Sinclair c Flower b Murphy 18; Stephen Fleming run out 55; Nathan Astle not out 51; Craig McMillan c Madondo b Strang 10; Adam Parore not out 3; Extras (b-5, lb-5, nb-6): 16; Total (for 4 wkts decl): 153
Fall of wickets: 1-4, 2-44, 3-103, 4-126.
Bowling: Heath Streak 5-1-18-1, Bryan Strang 11-2-25-1, Brian Murphy 18-0-86-1, Henry Olonga 2-0-12-0, Guy Whittall 4-3-2-0.

Zimbabwe (2nd Innings): Gavin Rennie c Parore b Wiseman 37; Guy Whittall c Parore b O’Connor 6; Stuart Carlisle not out 16; Alistair Campbell not out 0; Extras (lb-1): 1; Total (for 2 wkts): 60
Fall of wickets: 1-26, 2-57.
Bowling: Chris Martin 5-2-6-0, Shayne O’Connor 8-4-8-1, Paul Wiseman 6-2-15-1, Brooke Walker 11-1-30-0.