On Monday, Chanderpaul and Kraigg Brathwaite put up a West Indies record 336 runs for the first wicket while batting together.
The West Indies declared victory in the first Test against Zimbabwe on Monday at 447-6, thanks in large part to an unbeaten double century from Tagenarine Chanderpaul and a new record first-wicket partnership of 336 between the two players. The opening stand in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s southwest, scored more runs than Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes’s 298 in the 1990’s England match.
At stumps on the third day, Zimbabwe were 114-3 in reply, 333 runs behind, with Innocent Kaia, one of five Test rookies on the team, undefeated on 59 off of 59 balls with nine fours. One captain was able to get rid of another in the penultimate over of the day when Brathwaite clean-bowled Craig Ervine for 13.
The team performed admirably, and my best wishes to Tage on his first hundred. It’s encouraging to see him make a double. All-rounder Jason Holder remarked on how well they had worked along with the captain.
It’s encouraging to see that they’re going beyond only laying the groundwork by digging down substantially. We need wickets, and I’d rather not discuss the team’s strategy.
We have to be quite harsh. Tomorrow, he said, “we need to get off to a fast start, get a few early wickets, and maybe press them.”
Brathwaite scored 182 runs before he was caught leg before, while Chanderpaul, the son of former West Indies captain Shivnarine, blasted a six to earn a double century in only his third Test match. West Indies resumed on 221 without loss after two rain-delayed days, with both batsmen having reached triple digits.
Brathwaite, 116 not out overnight, went on the offensive right away, and the run rate quickly rose to five per over from its previous low of under two and a half. Eventually, spinner Wellington Masakadza managed to catch Brathwaite out at 182.
At the conclusion of 312 balls in which he hit 18 fours, the captain was out when he attempted to sweep a full-length delivery on off stump. After a poor showing in his previous Test against Australia in Adelaide two months ago (he made 19 and 3) Brathwaite’s performance this time around was quite encouraging.
The Zimbabwe bowlers had to work hard for 114 overs before finally getting a wicket. Before noon, they took another scalp when leg-spinner Brandon Mavuta bowled Kyle Mayers through the gate for 20 runs. Mavuta finished with five scalps for a total of 140 runs allowed. Despite the efforts of Mavuta and four other Zimbabwean bowlers, Chanderpaul was able to accelerate the pace of the game after two slow days, hitting three sixes and 16 fours.
