Wagner’s career-best haul bowls Zimbabwe out for 164

New Zealand 32 for 0 (Latham 16) trail Zimbabwe 164 (Tiripano 49, Masvaure 42, Wagner 6-41) by 132 runsScorecard and ball-by-ball details

Neil Wagner’s career-best 6 for 41 dismantled Zimbabwe’s fragile line-up and the hosts were only saved from being dismissed for the lowest first-innings score in Bulawayo by their tail. Prince Masvaure and Donald Tiripano shared an 85-run ninth-wicket stand to take Zimbabwe from 72 for 8 to a relatively respectable total of 164, but the day belonged to the South African-born New Zealand left-armer.

Wagner employed a short-ball strategy his former countrymen are known for and extracted surprising bounce from a usually tame surface to force a Zimbabwean collapse. Twice. In the second hour of play, the hosts tumbled from 35 for 1 to 36 for 4, and then, in the post-lunch session, lost four wickets with the score on 72. Wagner had bowled throughout that period, in a marathon 13-over spell broken by lunch, before New Zealand were frustrated by Zimbabwe’s late fightback.

Masvaure, playing his first Test, and Tiripano, in his second, batted for almost three hours and faced 260 balls in the partnership. The rest of Zimbabwe’s line-up only fronted up to 207 deliveries. On a pitch which called for patience and application, and against an opposition who were aggressive with ball in hand and in the field, Zimbabwe’s top-order was found wanting, which may prompt questions about why their captain exposed them so early.

With three debutants and plenty of inexperience in his ranks, Graeme Cremer would have been forgiven had he opted to field but he followed conventional wisdom and put his men in the firing line. Brian Chari was first to front up and Tim Southee did not allow him any …

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