New Zealand vs Zimbabwe, 1st T20I at Auckland, Feb 11 2012 - Ball by Ball Commentary

Thanks for your patience tonight as our scoring system had a meltdown, apologies for the delay at times, fingers crossed that everything goes to plan in a few days' time. This is Avi Singh signing off on behalf of Andrew Fernando doing match reports, and Kanishkaa Balachandran, Venkat Raghav, Robin Abrahams and Dustin Silgardo who all tirelessly worked away on the desk to help fix the issues tonight. Do join us on Tuesday night for the final T20I from Seddon Park in Hamilton. Until then, bye for now.

Positives for Zimbabwe to take from the game but if they are to pull off an upset in their final match of the tour at Hamilton on Tuesday, their fielding will have to pick up considerably and of course, Guptill will still be standing in their way. New Zealand were tested a little more tonight, which they wouldn't have seen as the worst thing in the long run as they try to prepare for the formidable South Africans who are arriving in the country tonight and tomorrow.

Post-Match Presentations:

Brendan Taylor: "Nice pitch, good to see Hamilton get back into form and set us up with Taibu. 159 was competitive but we knew we were 20-30 short with those short, straight boundaries. It was definitely a notch up from the ODIs and we fought harder today. The fielding was frustrating again, but we have to give Guptill credit. We will work hard at our game and hopefully be ready for Tuesday."

Brendon McCullum: "Great to see Guptill in such form, the bowlers stood up today. I thought 180-190 was a par score, the spinners did really well with short, sharp spells. Good to have so many guys in our team who can bowl spin, offers us variation. Outstanding wicket and Martin and Kane played well on it, short and straight is pretty inviting. All the Auckland boys are pretty happy with their day's work, I'm sure Colin will get more chances in the next game."

Martin Guptill: "Mark Perham always prepares belters and it's nice to bat on such wickets. Haven't really had a hit in the last two days so nice to get out there and play the way I did."

Zimbabwe fought better tonight but they couldn't find a way around Martin Guptill and he proved too good for the visitors as New Zealand win by 7 wickets.

Wilfred Hickenshire: "Funny how the only two NZ players who chose County Cricket over IPL last year and this year, are pulling us out of a hole in a 20/20..."