A draw while having a genuine sniff of victory for a tiny period after being 140/6 in response to 450 is a good good effort when you consider we went into this game without Raza, without Burl, without Blessing and without Chakabva.
And without Williams!
Holy shit I forgot him that's 5 players who walk into this team.
More on the game, we had 5 debutants ffs, alright maybe Ballance can be removed from that list but we had Kaia and Makoni opening the innings both on Test debut and Kaia did a fine fine job. Tsiga stonewalling it down too on his debut. Mavuta on a comeback game into the national side getting a fifer and a Test 50. Ballance, no words necessary. Wellington with both bat and ball was really crucial to this draw. Chamu was meh, disgustingly bad against spin but he wasn't complete shit. Ervine should've done much better too, he has the skillset to score as much as Ballance did but he came back with 13 and 17. Pacers struggled, good to see Evans get his first couple Test wickets. Very strong effort, and with just getting Williams in for Chibhabha for the next game, a win is very possible.
Sad that Williams is out for the second Test according to Ervine. You have to wonder how many more opportunities he will get to play Test cricket in his home town.
I expect Chivanga will come in. Ngarava was injured? Id probably bring him in for Nyauchi though. Although none of the seamers were impressive.
Masakadza gets no credit but he bowled superbly in the 1st innings and contributed to Mavuta’s 5fer at the other end for sure. Good with the bat and ball, deserves more credit.
Mavuta fantastic!
Kaia belongs in international cricket. Cemented his place in another format.
Disappointing performance from Ervine but still have to back him.
I still don’t want Chamu anywhere near the team but I suppose they’ll keep him in the side with Willo still out. They probably won’t risk Shumba.
Tsiga, although he did well blocking today, has looked largely out of his depth and I really wish they’d call Madande back.
Solid game. A lot of positives for Zimbabwe to take forward. As long as the graph is moving up, that’s all any team can ask for, be it India or Zimbabwe.
- Good result to get the draw, obviously the weather helped but ultimately with so many guys out I think we can all agree it's a great result.
- Bowling was very disciplined, but not very threatening. Dropped catches didn't help, can't afford to miss chances with an attach like that and on a deck like that.
- Batting again was pretty good, the openers did very well especially Kaia who's exactly what Zimbabwe's been crying out for at the top of the order. Makoni did pretty well too and will hold his spot for the 2nd Test.
- Chamu & Ervine were both very disappointing, two senior guys batting in the best spots and couldn't make a score on such a flat deck. Both got out for soft dismissals in both innings which is really unforgivable on such a flat deck.
- Ballance was superb, but I still think he needs to bat higher up the order. If he can blunt the attack by seeing their first couple of spells off it will make it easier for the guy coming in afterwards. That's the formula I think is best for success, rather than the idea to send the weaker guys up top and protect the better players.
- Tsiga saved the match with his batting, I guess that's why Dave wanted him in the side. Once again Dave showing he knows best, although Tsiga needs to sort his keeping out, I'd still pick Madande over him.
- Changes for the next match, Chivanga for Ngarava is the obvious one, they might also want to spell one of Nyauchi or Evans considering the short turn around in matches and the amount of bowling they've done. That leaves Tiripano to come in, which is a defensive option with both bat & ball, but if they're not changing the squad then there's no other choice.
- I'd like to see Shumba play the next Test, but I doubt they'll drop Chamu so I think we will see the same top 6. Maunze will likely be the unlucky guy here, of all the uncapped players in the squad, he'll be the only one to not debut. He might not get another chance to play for Zimbabwe.
that's 5 players who walk into this team. 
