Zimbabwe vs New Zealand, 1st Test at Bulawayo, ZIM vs NZ, Jul 30 2025 - Ball by Ball Commentary

Hope you enjoyed our coverage. From Shashwat and me, Shashank, it's goodbye. Why don't you hop on to watch England and India at The Oval in what is turning out to be a fun second day?

Time for the presentations

Mitch Santner: Great collective performance, more in it with the ball than we thought. Lengths and lines, getting it right, to bowl them out for 150 was great. Could've batted a bit better. We had good intent [with the bat], talked about getting partnerships, didn't have many significant ones. They bowled well, Blessing is a challenge when it bounces like that. Feel for Nathan Smith, bowled so well in the first innings. Doesn't look good [for him]. Henry wasn't in the Test team for a bit behind the big three, to take nine on that wicket is a pretty good effort."

Matt Henry is Player of the Match for his match figures of 9 for 90, including a six-for in the first innings. "With the chop and change in formats, got to trust the work you've put in. Was great [conditions], when you have assistance, great we were able to exploit it to set up a platform for us."

Craig Ervine: Thought there was lot more application in this Test. There was a fair bit in the wicket, but the guys tried to grind it out. A few dodgy decisions there but unfortunately it didn't quite go our way. We thought the surface would play a lot better than it did. Haven't seen as much lateral movement as there was here for a while, probably a 100 short [in the first innings]. When we came out, we could've easily picked two-three on the first day, bowlers started exceptionally well on Day 2 to bring us back into the game. We've been on the road for a fair bit, played quite a few Tests. Fresh mind, body important. Take a couple of days off, go back to the drawing board and come back fresh.

2.46pm New Zealand lost Nathan Smith to an abdominal injury, didn't have the services of Will O'Rourke on Day 3. But still cruised to a victory inside three days on the back of a dominating batting show, led by Conway, and then a stunning exhibition of swing and seam by Matt Henry, who finishes with a match-haul of nine wickets.

Zimbabwe resumed on 31 for 2, needing a big partnership to try and eat into the deficit and then dream of building a sizeable one to take the fight to the visitors. That wasn't to be. They lost 8 for 134 today, with Santner slicing through the line-up to take four wickets.

In the second Test, Zimbabwe will welcome Brendan Taylor back. That'll potentially shore up their batting, but he's coming back after nearly four years.