West Indies stand an strong chance of finishing the second Test on the third day itself, as they picked up four wickets before lunch after declaring in the morning during a 15-minute rain delay. Things seemed to look up for Zimbabwe after their openers delivered a solid start in good conditions to bat, the only significant worry being some encouraging bounce in the track for West Indies' bowlers. But that promise was short lived, leaving the middle order to stage a rescue act to put pressure back on West Indies, a task that could possibly be beyond the visitors.
The seamers Kemar Roach and Tino Best were guilty of conceding runs down the leg side and bowling too short to create chances. When they did induce the batsmen to play forward, Hamilton Masakadza and Vusi Sibanda proved adept at driving through the line. Sibanda looked good all-round, slashing hard over the slips and past gully when the ball was dropped short and driving Shannon Gabriel handsomely past extra cover and mid-off to collect boundaries.
Best, however, struck in the 11th over with a round-the-wicket angle. He was convinced he had Masakadza out off a short ball that forced the batsman on the back foot as he tried to defend. The umpire Tony Hill gave it out, Masakadza immediately reviewed the decision and, in the absence of Hot Spot, the third umpire overturned the call after several replays, possibly due to the fact that there was no change in the direction or the rotation of the ball as it went past the outside edge. But there was no fortune for Masakadza three balls later, when Hill ruled him not out, only to be overturned by a West Indies review. As Masakadza tried to fend a ball down the leg side, there appeared to be a change in rotation just at the time it reached the glove, indicating there may have been contact.
As the spinner Shane Shillingford was introduced into the attack, he derived spin and testing bounce, but was swept well by both Sibanda, who struck him for six over deep square leg, and Brendan Taylor. But, as in the first Test, the Zimbabwe batsmen's ability against bounce was again under scrutiny, and Taylor succumbed when one turned in sharply to catch the glove and lobbed to short leg.
Sibanda, who had looked solid, tried to rashly swing Darren Sammy across the line and was trapped in front, his failed review confirming the ball would have clipped the bails. Sean Williams resisted for 19 deliveries and the bounce did him in, as Shillingford got one to spit away from off stump, resulting in a top edge to point off a loose attempt to cut the ball. Yet again, Zimbabwe seemed unable to sustain an encouraging display long enough to seriously challenge a superior opposition.
West Indies 381 for 8 dec (Chanderpaul 108, Gayle 101) beat Zimbabwe 175 (Taylor 33, Shillingford 5-59) and 141 (Sibanda 35, Shillingford 5-34) by an innings and 65 runs
It took just 42.2 overs on the third day for West Indies to clinch the second Test, sweep the series, win six Tests in a row and inflict another surrender to spin on Zimbabwe.
West Indies 381 for 8 dec (Chanderpaul 108, Gayle 101) beat Zimbabwe 175 (Taylor 33, Shillingford 5-59) and 141 (Sibanda 35, Shillingford 5-34) by an innings and 65 runs
It took just 42.2 overs on the third day for West Indies to clinch the second Test, sweep the series, win six Tests in a row and inflict another surrender to spin on Zimbabwe.
The hosts promptly declared during a 15-minute rain delay in the morning, and a solid start from the Zimbabwe batsmen was a hugely misleading prelude to what was to follow. Once again, Zimbabwe failed to sustain a promising phase of play long enough against a superior opposition. Shane Shillingford was their nemesis again, picking up 10 wickets in the match, several of which owed to the unsettling bounce he was able to extract from the track in his hometown.
The strategy for West Indies was simple, having successfully employed it in the first Test and the first innings in Dominica. The spinners, Shillingford, brought on in the 13th over, and Marlon Samuels, who picked up six wickets in the game, got the ball to turn, and more crucially bounce, from the off stump, surrounded the Zimbabwe batsmen with close-in fielders, who snapped up what came their way or had their team-mates in the outfield ready for opportunities borne out of a desperate attempt to find a release.
Vusi Sibanda and Brendan Taylor countered that pressure temporarily by sweeping Shillingford, Sibanda even struck him for six over deep square leg, but it was only a matter of time before the spitting bounce that proved Zimbabwe's undoing throughout the series returned to trouble them. Taylor was caught on the glove when Shillingford held his length back and caught at short leg.
Taylor's wicket marked the start of the spinners coming to dominate the innings, but Tino Best and Darren Sammy did their bit to end Zimbabwe's early resistance. Best was guilty of bowling too short, and Sibanda had cashed in, slashing hard through the off side and even driving handsomely for boundaries when the ball was pitched up, as he did against Shannon Gabriel. But Best went round the wicket to Hamilton Masakadza, who was also set, got him to seemingly glove one down the leg side, reviewed the "not out" decision and got it overturned. A possible reason for the third umpire to reverse the original call was a change in rotation of the ball as it reached Masakadza's glove, indicating there may have been contact.
Minutes earlier, in the same over, Masakadza had successfully reviewed another caught-behind decision, this time having been given out, though the evidence, in the absence of Hot Spot, was again inconclusive.
Just two balls after Taylor had been sent back, Sibanda played a rash shot across the line to Sammy to be trapped in front, his failed review confirming the ball would have clipped the bails.
With the top order out of the way, Shillingford and Samuels eased past those that came after. Sean Williams got a top-edge while trying to play a cut against Shillingford, to be caught at point, and the capitulation picked up speed following the lunch break. Craig Ervine survived 34 balls but was caught brilliantly by Chris Gayle diving to his left at slip to pouch an edge with one hand. The extra bounce in the track brought the backward short leg into play and Malcolm Waller found that fielder when he tried to work Samuels away off the back foot. Shillingford had, six overs earlier, dismissed Tino Mawoyo, forced to bat at No.7 after missing a good part of the second day's play, in the same region.
With Waller, perhaps Zimbabwe's best batsman in the limited-overs series this tour, back in the pavilion, West Indies required just four more overs to wrap up the innings. Graeme Cremer's stand-out shot was a six over long-on with his eyes staring at the ground at the point of, as well as after, impact, but inside-edged a catch towards midwicket trying the same stroke to give Shillingford his fifth wicket. It was also Shillingford's tenth for the match and 19th for the series - the best returns in a two-match series for a West Indies bowler, going past Courtney Walsh's 16 in New Zealand in 1994-95.
Paul Jarvis and Tendai Chatara lasted just two deliveries, Samuels hastening the end of a mismatch that continued West Indies' best run of consecutive victories in Tests - now six - since 1988.
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