It was the 1511st Test in cricket history. It was the 281st Test for New Zealand and 45th for Zimbabwe. It was the tenth Test match between these two sides. New Zealand has won five, while rest of the five were drawn. Umpires David Shepherd and Ian Robinson officiated in their 53rd and 23rd Test respectively. Mark Richardson became the fifth New Zealander on sixth occasion to make 99 in a Test innings. Others to do so for New Zealand are: John Beck (v South Africa at Cape Town in 1953-54), Richard Hadlee (v England at Christchurch in 1983-84), John Wright (v Australia at Melbourne in 1987-88 and v England at Christchurch in 1991-92) and Dipak Patel (v England at Christchurch in 1991-92). A total of 61 scores of 99 have now been registered in Test cricket. The country wise break-up: 16 Australians on 17 occasions, 11 Englishmen on 14 occasions, 6 Pakistanis on 7 occasions, 6 Indians on 6 occasions, 5 West Indians on 6 occasions, 5 New Zealanders on 6 occasions, 3 South Africans on 3 occasions and one Sri Lankan and Zimbabwean on one occasion each. The wicket of Adam Parore in first innings was the 50th for Henry Olonga in Test cricket. He became the fifth Zimbabwean after Heath Streak, Paul Strang, Guy Whittall and Bryan Strang to do so. Chris Cairns scored his fourth Test century and second against Zimbabwe. He had made 120 at Auckland in 1995-96. The eighth wicket stand of 144 between Chris Cairns and Dion Nash is New Zealand's best for this wicket against all countries beating the 137 run partnership between Nash and Daniel Vettori against India at Wellington in 1998-99. This also obliterates the previous record stand of 112 for New Zealand against Zimbabwe between Chris Harris and Daniel Vettori at Bulawayo in 1997-98. New Zealand's first innings total of 465 is its highest against Zimbabwe -home or away. This obliterates the previous highest of 460 at Auckland in 1997-98. New Zealand's previous highest against Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe was 403 at Bulawayo in 1997-98. Andy Flower on 59 in the second innings, completed his 3000 runs in Test cricket in his 45th Test and 81st innings. He became the first Zimbabwean and 109th batsman in Test cricket history to reach this landmark. The catch of Henry Olonga in first innings was the 150th dismissal for Adam Parore as wicketkeeper (though Parore has a tally of 154 dismissals after this Test, three of his catches were taken as a fielder). Parore became the second New Zealander after Ian Smith (176 dismissals from 63 matches) and 15th keeper in the world to do so. The fifth wicket stand of 131 runs between Andy Flower and Guy Whittall in second innings is Zimbabwe's best for this wicket against New Zealand. This obliterates the previous record stand of 78 between Dave Houghton and Guy Whittall at Bulawayo in 1997-98. Andy Flower, on 43 in second innings, completed 1000 runs at Harare Sports Club Ground. Flower was playing his 16th Test on this ground. Flower became the first Zimbabwean to aggregate 1000 Test runs on any ground. The sixth wicket partnership of 151 runs between Guy Whittall and Heath Streak in second innings is Zimbabwe's best for this wicket against New Zealand. This obliterates the previous record stand of 76 between Campbell and Heath Streak at Bulawayo in the first Test of this series. The partnership just failed to beat Zimbabwe's alltime record for this wicket which still remains as 165 between Dave Houghton and Andy Flower against India at Harare in Zimbabwe's inaugural Test in 1992-93. Guy Whittall also completed his 1000 runs on Zimbabwean soil when his score reached 99. He was playing his 19th Test in Zimbabwe. Whittall became the fourth batsman after Andy Flower (1643 from 24 matches), Grant Flower (1438 from 23 matches) and Alistair Campbell (1050 from 24 matches) to do so. Guy Whittall's innings (188*) is the second highest by any batsman in Zimbabwe-New Zealand Tests. Interestingly the record is also in the name of Whittall with the innings of 203* at Bulawayo in 1997-98. Nkala bagged a pair in the Test. He became the 10th Zimbabwean on 12th occasion to suffer this fate. Adam Huckle and 'Pommy' Mbangwa have suffered this fate twice. The win was New Zealand's 12th under Stephen Fleming's captainship. Fleming has now become the most successful Test captain for New Zealand. He was earlier at level with Geoff Howarth with 11 wins. At the end of the series:Overall Test record:
New Zealand: played 281, won 46, lost 114 and drawn 121.
Zimbabwe: played 45, won 3, lost 24 and drawn 18.
Captaincy record:
Stephen Fleming: played 29, won 12, lost 10 and drawn 7.
Heath Streak: played 2, lost 2.
