Cremer puts Zimbabwe on top in first Test

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe: Captain Graeme Cremer took four wickets as Zimbabwe restricted West Indies to 219 all-out on the opening day of their first Test at the Queens Sports Club on Saturday.

Zimbabwe reached 19 for no loss in reply at the close with debutant opener Solomon Mire on 17 not out and his partner Hamilton Masakadza yet to get off the mark.

Cremer (four for 64) was the pick of the bowlers with his leg-breaks on a turning wicket and was superbly supported by all-rounder Sean Williams (three for 20) as eight of the West Indies wickets fell to spin.

Shai Hope was left stranded on 90 not out in the visitors’ innings as he ran out of partners, with the only other meaningful score coming from opener Kieran Powell (56).

Zimbabwe have recalled experienced batsman Brendan Taylor and seamer Kyle Jarvis for the first Test of the two-match series.

Score Board

West Indies won toss

West Indies 1st innings

K Brathwaite c Chakabva b Jarvis   3

K Powell c Ervine b Cremer  56

K Hope c Chakabva b Mire   16

S Hope not out         90

R Chase c Ervine b Raza      31

J Blackwood st Chakabva b Cremer 1

S Dowrich c Masakadza b Williams  11

J Holder lbw b Williams        8

D Bishoo c Ervine b Williams 0

K Roach lbw b Cremer         0

S Gabriel c Ervine b Cremer 0

Extras (3b)    3

Total (all out, 82.5 overs)    219

Fall: 1-14, 2-35, 3-110, 4-174, 5-179, 6-202, 7-212, 8-218, 9-219, 10-219

Bowling: Jarvis 14-2-40-1, Mpofu 14-4-28-0, Mire 7-0-22-1, Cremer 23.5-3-64-4, Raza 11-1-42-1, Williams 13-4-20-3

Zimbabwe 1st innings

H Masakadza not ou  0

S Mire not out 17

Extras (2lb)    2

Total (0 wkts, 5 overs)        19

To bat: B Taylor, C Ervine, S Williams, Sikandar Raza, M Waller, R Chakabva, G Cremer, K Jarvis, C Mpofu.

Bowling: Gabriel 2-1-2-0, Holder 1-0-9-0, Bishoo 1-1-0-0, Chase 1-0-6-0.

Umpires: Kumar Dharmasena (Sri Lanka) and Paul Reiffel (Australia). TV umpire: Simon Fry (Australia). Match referee: Javagal Srinath (India)