Bulawayo (Zimbabwe), July 30 (IANS) Matt Henry bagged the fifth five-wicket haul of his career while Devon Conway struck an unbeaten half-century as New Zealand dominated the first day of the opening Test of the two-match series against Zimbabwe at the Queens Sport Club here on Wednesday.

Henry bagged sensational figures of 6-39, and with Nathan Smith claiming 3-20, the BlackCaps came up with a superb bowling performance to dismiss Zimbabwe for 149 in their first innings midway through the afternoon session.

Devon Conway then compiled a patient unbeaten 51, his 12th Test half-century, while Will Young scored 41 not out as New Zealand reached 92 for no loss at stumps on day one, still trailing Zimbabwe by 57 runs but in a very strong position to pile up a massive score in their first innings.

The match took Matt Henry to the same position as last year, in which he claimed three five-wicket hauls, finishing with 48 wickets at an average of 18.58 in nine matches. This is his third-best Test innings haul after the 7-67 he took against Australia in Christchurch last March and the 7-23 he took against South Africa in Christchurch in February 2022.

After Zimbabwe skipper Craig Ervine elected to bat first, Henry struck the first blow by dismissing Brian Bennett, who edged back to Will Young, poking at a delivery bowled on the fourth stump.

By lunch, Zimbabwe were 67/4 with Henry claiming three wickets, adding the wickets of Ben Curren and Nick Welch to his tally. On resumption, he claimed the wickets of Sikandar Raza, Newman Nyamhuri, and Blessing Muzarabani to complete his six-wicket haul.

Craig Ervine top-scored for Zimbabwe with 39 off 115 balls, hitting six fours, before he was trapped LBW by Smith, while Tafadzwa Tsiga scored 30 and also fell LBW to Smith. In all, six Zimbabwe batters failed to reach double figures.

With skipper Tom Latham injured and missing the Test, Mitchell Santner made his debut as Test captain and marshalled his bowling resources well.

In reply, New Zealand made a superb start even though Conway and Young were troubled at times by teenage left-arm seamer Newman Nyamhuri and spinner Sikandar Raza. But both batters looked confident and had chanceless knocks. Conway reached his half-century in 83 balls, hitting eight boundaries.

Both made it to stumps with their wickets intact and will be eyeing big scores when play resumes on day two on Thursday.

Brief scores:

Zimbabwe 149 all out in 60.3 overs (Craig Ervine 39; Matt Henry 6-39, Nathan Smith 3-20). New Zealand 92 for no loss in 26 overs (Devon Conway 51 not out, Will Young 41 not out).

–IANS

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