Bulawayo, Aug 9 (IANS) New Zealand have registered their biggest ever Test victory after crushing Zimbabwe by an innings and 359 runs to complete a 2-0 series sweep at the Queens Sports Club here on Saturday. The huge loss is also Zimbabwe’s heaviest defeat in the longer format.

After New Zealand declared their first innings on 601/3 in 130 overs at the start of the third day’s play, debutant pacer Zakary Foulkes picked a five-wicket haul and now holds the record for the best figures by a New Zealand bowler on Test debut.

Senior seamer Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, and Matt Fisher were all among the wickets to bowl out Zimbabwe for 117 in their second innings. Henry, who will now join Welsh Fire for a stint at The Hundred, capped off a brilliant series with 16 wickets.

For Zimbabwe, Nick Welch offered lone resistance by remaining unbeaten on 47 after coming in during the first over of their second innings and had to single-handedly do the scoring, even as he watched wickets tumble around him.

Brian Bennett was out in the first over, as Henry castled him with an inswinger, while an outswinger dismissed Brendan Taylor from the pacer. Sean Williams got a leading edge off Duffy, who completed a simple caught and bowled dismissal, while Craig Ervine nicked off in the cordon off Fisher.

All-rounder Sikandar Raza was troubled by the short ball once again and gave a catch to gully off Foulkes. What also didn’t help Zimbabwe’s cause was that none of the lower-order batters got into double figures.

Duffy thought he had sealed the win early for New Zealand, but was denied due to a no-ball called after he overstepped at the crease. The end, though, came swiftly afterwards, as Duffy had Tanaka Chivanga caught at gully to seal a solid win for New Zealand.

The emphatic result in the Test match also marked the completion of a successful tour for the Mitchell Santner-led Black Caps, who also won the preceding T20I Tri-series, with South Africa coming in as the third team.

Brief scores:

Zimbabwe 125 and 117 in 28.1 overs (Nick Welch 47, Craig Ervine 17; Zakary Foulkes 5-37, Matt Henry 2-16) lost to New Zealand 601/3 dec in 130 overs (Rachin Ravindra 165 not out, Devon Conway 153, Henry Nicholls 150 not out; Blessing Muzarabani 1-101) by an innings and 359 runs

–IANS

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