Another day, another win

Most of the coverage calls the Bulawayo match another "crushing victory" for the New Zealand side. I think that is a little harsh on a Zimbabwe side that improved markedly since the first test. That improvement did not stop that most genial of Trinidadians, Phil Simmons, from getting the sack as Zimbabwe's coach.

The conclusion of the game was almost as much a farce as the handling of Simmons' dismissal. For those of you who have not seen it, Blessing Mawhire was so busy waving to the crowd to celebrate his maiden test 50 that he failed to notice that his batting partner, Christopher Mpofu, had set off for a second run and was standing almost behind him. At the other end of the pitch a somewhat sheepish Brendon McCullum took the bails off and the New Zealanders began to celebrate their victory.

Sadly Zimbabwe had their share of bad luck in the second innings. Not only was Mpofu run out, but so were Stuart Carlisle and Craig Wishart. Carlisle must have been particularly aggreived given that he had just done the hard work and seen off Shane Bond's opening spell, while Wishart didn't even get to face a ball.

The short test series is now over and it is hard to see many positives to come from it for New Zealand. Clearly Shane Bond's rehabilitation is one. The New Zealand quick took his tally of test wickets to 56 at the impressive average of 20.80. James Franklin and Dan Vettori also proved a few points with the ball and Vettori confirmed his status as an all-rounder with that fine century at Harare. The top order continued to prove a concern and I think the selectors are going to have to take a long, hard look at who is going to open against the West Indies this summer.

Despite the one-sided results, the Zimbabwe side might take some comfort from their performance in the series. Tatenda Taibu proved he is of real international class as a wicket-keeper, gritty lower-order batsmen and captain. Heath Streak showed he is still a classy swing bowler and some new talent was revealed in Blessing Mawhire, Keith Dabengwa and 19 year-old Brendan Taylor.

I don't think we need to go too much into the obvious negatives of the series. The Green party and John Minto have already gone over those far too many times.

Anyway, now its on to the first of the many one-day series we are going to have to sit through this summer.