Zimbabwean called for throwing in New Zealand Test victory
New Zealand has beaten home side Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the First Test, played at Bulawayo - but not before Zimbabwean Grant Flower was no-balled for his bowling action
www.baggygreen.com.au
17-Sep-2000
New Zealand has beaten home side Zimbabwe by seven wickets in the First
Test, played at Bulawayo - but not before Zimbabwean Grant Flower was
no-balled for his bowling action.
New Zealand were chasing 132 for victory on the fifth and final day of the
match when Australian umpire Darrell Hair, officiating from square leg,
no-balled Flower three times in his second over. After the third no-ball,
Zimbabwe captain Heath Streak relieved Flower and called on Gavin Rennie to
complete the over.
Hair and Flower have both been involved in previous incidents over bowling
actions.
In 1995, Hair called the bowling action of Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah
Muralitharan in a Test against Australia at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Meanwhile, Flower has been no-balled for throwing in Zimbabwe's domestic
Logan Cup competition. Flower is better known for his batting than his
left-arm slow bowling, which in Tests has returned just six wickets at an
average of almost 100.
By the time Flower was called, New Zealand were well-placed to win the match. The modest target was reached after the lunch interval by Craig McMillan and opener Mathew Sinclair, who followed up his first-innings century with 43 not out.
The victory also took New Zealand to 11 Test wins from 28 matches under the
captaincy of Stephen Fleming - placing him equal with Geoff Howarth as the
country's most successful cricket captain.
Earlier in the match, Zimbabwe had put itself in a solid position, grafting
its way to 350 in the first innings. The home side then gained a 12-run
first-innings lead thanks to the efforts of spinner Paul Strang, who
finished with the remarkable figures of 8/109 off 51.5 overs.
However, the Zimbabwean batsmen failed to capitalise as New Zealand's Chris
Cairns took 5/31 in the second innings. Alistair Campbell - who had
top-scored for Zimbabwe with 88 in the first innings - again offered the
main resistance, making 45 as Zimbabwe crumbled to be all out for 119.
Zimbabwe then took the early wickets of opener Mark Richardson and key New
Zealand batsman Fleming, but a steadying 50-run partnership between Sinclair
and Nathan Astle put the result beyond doubt.