Matt Henry Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Seamer Matt Henry took six wickets as the Black Caps bowled out hosts Zimbabwe for 149 on the opening day of the first test at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo before scoring 92-0 in reply to trail by 57 runs.
The 33-year-old Henry took three wickets before lunch and three more after the opening session to finish with figures of 6-39 off 15.3 overs as the tourists dominated, with spinner Nathan Smith making a significant contribution with 3-20.
New Zealand opener Devon Conway scored an unbeaten 51 and Will Young 41 not out at stumps as they began their reply, looking to set the foundation for a significant first innings lead.
Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat but were 67-4 at lunch as Henry dismissed their top order cheaply.
Zimbabwe, coming off a pair of heavy defeats at home by South Africa in the last six weeks, were unable to put together any significant partnerships with the highest being 54 runs for the sixth wicket between captain Craig Ervine and Tafadzwa Tsiga.
Ervine top scored with 39 before Smith trapped him leg before wicket. The spinner also had Tsiga lbw for 30.
New Zealand were without captain Tom Latham, who failed to recover from a shoulder injury, and Kane Williamson, who opted out of the two-test series, leaving Mitchell Santner to take the reins for his first test as captain.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe have added batter Brendan Taylor to their squad for the second test after he completed a three-and-a-half-year suspension imposed for breaching the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Anti-Doping codes.
Taylor, 39, was banned in 2022 after admitting receiving US$15,000 (NZ$25,300) from an Indian businessman in 2019. He had retired from international cricket in September 2021.
He admitted taking cocaine while in India and claimed this was later used to blackmail him into spot-fixing, though he denied going through with any fixes.
Taylor has played 34 test matches since making his debut against Sri Lanka in 2004, scoring six centuries and 12 half-centuries.
With 9 938 international runs across all formats, he is Zimbabwe's third-highest run-scorer.
-Reuters
