Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson punished Zimbabwe's bowlers with a fourth wicket stand of 195, at more than eight runs an over, to take New Zealand to an imposing total in Bulawayo. For the third, successive match in the series, a Taylor has scored a century in the first innings. This time it was not the Zimbabwe captain, Brendan, but his opposite number, who scored a fluent 119. The hallmark of his partnership with Williamson was their patience upfront and immense power at the end.

 

Zimbabwe will be slightly happier with their performance in the field. They bowled with more discipline and put on a more spirited fielding display, although they still conceded heavily and lacked a certain incisiveness. Keegan Meth, who had to play the role of the senior seamer in the absence of Chris Mpofu, was unable to find the right length, but debutants Njabula Ncube and Natsai Mushangwe showed promising signs.

 

Zimbabwe's bowlers had failed to take regular wickets in the previous two matches and the first breakthrough they had in this match was in the field. Rob Nicol ran his opening partner, BJ Watling, out by striding down the wicket after pushing the ball straight to Malcolm Waller at midwicket and then deciding against the run.

 

While there was initial confusion at the crease, Zimbabwe's new-ball pair of Meth and Ncube were also being tested. Ncube bowled back of a length but occasionally banged it in too short and was pulled away while Meth offered a few too many half-volleys early on. Despite their inconsistencies, Ncube was rewarded when Sibanda took a blinder of a catch over his shoulder at point to dismiss Nicol. McCullum's response was to cut Ncube for two consecutive fours but Ncube had the last laugh when he had McCullum caught behind off a thin edge to another short ball.

 

Zimbabwe had New Zealand on the ropes at 41 for 3 but loosened their grip and allowed Taylor and Jesse Ryder to rebuild. Ryder adjusted well to use finesse instead of force when he drove Ncube through the covers and rolled the wrists to flick him away for six. Ray Price was brought on as soon as the mandatory 10-over PowerPlay ended and stemmed the run flow with his first three overs that only went for six runs. Elton Chigumbura, who bowled a fairly good length on the other side, also helped keep the runs in check.

 

Taylor and Ryder did well to grind through the middle periods and they laid a decent platform for New Zealand to launch from but Ryder gave it away when he popped a leading edge back to Waller to fall three runs after reaching a gritty half-century. Ryder's departure meant that Taylor had to consolidate again, a tricky task against the controlled legspin of Mushangwe, who proved difficult to get away. With the run-rate starting to dip down to four per over, Kane Williamson broke some of the pressure when he took on Waller, smacking his two long hops for four in the 32nd over.

 

Boundaries were rare in that period and the New Zealand pair did well to rotate strike and avoid being tied up by Zimbabwe. When Meth offered the right length, the batsmen got under it, when Price bowled a full toss, they dispatched it and even Mushangwe was punished when he erred. Mushangwe dropped Williamson when he was on 65, off his own bowling, an act that opened the floodgates at the end.

 

New Zealand scored 69 runs off the last five overs, with Ncube threatening at the death with his good yorkers. Meth was unable to do the same and his length saw him bear the brunt of New Zealand's final assault. Williamson also reached a century after a no-ball four from Ncube resulted in an extra delivery at the end of the innings, which allowed him to reach the milestone when he scrambled a third run, diving into the crease to beat the throw.