Updated on
Summary Opener Martin Guptill was 74 not out as New Zealand eased to 179-2 against Zimbabwe at tea.
On day one of the one-off test on Tuesday, Guptill hit seven fours and a six in his 170-ball knock, sharing partnerships of 75 with Kane Williamson (49) and an unbroken stand of 64 with captain Ross Taylor (33 not out) to move the Black Caps toward a strong position after they chose to bat first at Queens Sports Club.Seamer Kyle Jarvis forced Brendon McCullum to play onto his own stumps on 14 for the first wicket. Williamson was run out one short of a half-century when he failed to get back into his crease after a throw from bowler Ray Price.But Guptill was relatively untroubled on a good batting pitch in the southern city of Bulawayo and Taylor provided solid support with four boundaries in his 33 off 90 balls.New Zealand, which is missing allrounder Jesse Ryder and seamer Kyle Mills through injury, is aiming to end a losing run in test cricket in the only five-day match on its tour of Zimbabwe.The Black Caps have not won a test since February 2010 and failed to win a match in their last three series, going down to Pakistan, India and Australia.Former skipper Daniel Vettori was back in the team for the first time since the World Cup, and New Zealand gave test debuts to Dean Brownlie and allrounder Doug Bracewell.McCullum sought to be aggressive up front, hitting two early fours in his 14 from 27 balls before he edged onto his stumps trying a pull shot to leave New Zealand on 40-1 in the 11th over.Guptill and Williamson rebuilt, with Williamson stroking six boundaries before his strange dismissal where he failed to react quick enough to a return from Price to debutant wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva when seemingly in no danger.Guptill continued to anchor New Zealands effort on a placid pitch and his half-century stand with Taylor restored the momentum and looked set to send the tourists to a large first-innings score.Jarvis was the only Zimbabwe bowler to strike with 1-25 off 11 overs.Njabulo Ncube had 0-42 on his debut and failed to put the batsmen under any prolonged pressure alongside spinner Price (0-42) and seamer Chris Mpofu (0-50).Zimbabwe was also missing two important players for its third test since returning to the five-day format this year after a six-year absence.Left-arm seamer Brian Vitori and allrounder Elton Chigumbura were out injured, while Chakabva kept wicket in place of regular keeper Tatenda Taibu who was picked in the team but could not stand behind the stumps because of a finger injury.Malcolm Waller was also selected for his test debut for the home team alongside Chakabva and Ncube.
