Zimbabwe counter Gudakesh Motie threat as Test ends with a thrilling draw

WI bowlers celebrate a wicket on Day 5 (Source: Twitter)

Zimbabwean batters decided to play safe in the remaining 54 overs of Day 5, after they were tasked to chase down 272 by the West Indies. Tafadzwa Tsiga, Gary Ballance and Chamu Chibhabha washed up most of the deliveries in the fourth innings as the opening Test between the two sides ended in a draw.

Notably, over 100 overs were bowled on the day, with West Indies batters facing the first 47 of them upfront.

Gudakesh Motie, Roston Chase lead West Indies’ fight on extended Day 5

First-innings double-centurion Tagenarine Chanderpaul failed to add much to his overnight score as he was dismissed for 15 earlier in the day. His opening partner and skipper Kraigg Brathwaite departed shortly afterwards for 25, thus paving way for Raymon Reifer and Jermaine Blackwood to form their alliance at the crease.

The two cricketers listed a 107-run stand, with both piling up their respective half-centuries. Blackwood scored his runs at a brisk pace before captain Brathwaite sportingly declared the team’s total at 203.

Left with 272 runs to get in the remaining two sessions of the match, the hosts decided to play it safe. Opener Innocent Kaia faced 46 deliveries to score 24, and number three batter Chamu Chibhabha chewed up 60 to add 31 from his end.

The match briefly took a thrilling turn during the twilight stages with West Indies’ bowlers Gudakesh Motie and Roston Chase claiming back-to-back wickets in successive overs. Motie himself claimed four wickets in the innings and posed the biggest threat to the hosts in their quest for defence.

However, Zimbabwe’s Tafadzwa Tsiga faced 83 deliveries and saw off the final 10 overs of the expanded Day 5. He was assisted by Wellington Masakadza, who spent 31 minutes at the crease to face 36 deliveries without scoring a run.

The two teams will now re-group to face each other in the deciding Test of the series at the same venue on February 12.

Brief scores:

West Indies: 447-6d (143)

Tagenarine Chanderpaul 207* (467), Kraigg Brathwaite 182 (312)
Brandon Mavuta 5-140, Wellington Masakadza 1-85

Zimbabwe: 379-9d (125)

Gary Ballance 137* (231), Innocent Kaia 67 (132)
Alzarri Joseph 3-75, Jason Holder 2-55

West Indies: 203-5d (60)

Raymon Reifer 58 (106), Jermaine Blackwood 57 (84)
Wellington Masakadza 3-71, Brad Evans 2-41

Zimbabwe: 134-6 (54)

Chamu Chibhabha 31 (60), Tafadzwa Tsiga 24* (83)
Gudakesh Motie 4-50, Roston Chase 2-9

Match Drawn

Also Read: ZIM vs WI, 1st Test: Tagenarine Chanderpaul slams his maiden double century