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Henry takes five again as returning Taylor can’t inspire insipid Zimbabwe

Published

9 months ago

2025/08/8

Priyan

Matt Henry bagged 5 for 40, his sixth Test five-for [Zimbabwe Cricket]

Matt Henry’s sixth Test five-for eclipsed Brendan Taylor’s international comeback, and entrenched questions over Zimbzbwe’s batting in the longest format. Zimbabwe were bowled out for their lowest total in nine innings, and second-lowest since 2023, with Taylor’s 44 and Tafadzwa Tsiga’s 33 the only individual scores over 11. That Taylor and Tsiga never batted together further underlines the issue, as Zimbabwe mustered a best partnership of only 29 on a surface where they chose to bat first.

There was some early movement but with less bounce on offer than last week, and the quality of New Zealand’s seamers shone through. Henry led the attack, but debutants Zakary Foulkes, Jacob Duffy and Matthew Fisher were also impressive. They varied lengths well, and bowled tight lines to a plan to give New Zealand’s line-up the best of the batting conditions.

In response, Devon Conway and Will Young put on New Zealand’s third highest opening partnership against Zimbabwe, and New Zealand’s first opening stand of over 150 in almost three years. It was their fourth century stand together, and first for the opening wicket. Though separated late in the day, Conway and Young put New Zealand ahead, and memories of Taylor’s slog earlier in the day already far from mind.

Taylor was called into action immediately on his comeback after a three-and-a-half-year ban when he was elevated to open the batting – something he had only done six times before – in place of Ben Curran. The reason for that became obvious as Taylor looked, by a distance, the most aware of his off stump, left well, and defended solidly.

With all those qualities on display in the morning, he will be livid with the manner of his dismissal shortly after lunch. Taylor became Henry’s third wicket when he popped a tame catch to stand-in captain Mitchell Santner at extra cover to end a two-hour-and-23 minute stay at the crease.

By then, Zimbabwe were in all sorts of trouble. They had already lost the rest of their top order thanks to poor shot selection in the face of excellent bowling. Brian Bennett, who partnered Taylor, was out as early as the ninth ball when he chased a delivery that shaped away and edged Henry to second slip, and will have to address his technique going forward.

Henry should have had Nick Welch off the next ball when he edged a good-length delivery. But Will Young, who took the catch that dismissed Bennett, could not hold on. Welch was beaten on the outside edge at least twice more by Henry, who then beat his inside edge and had him out lbw.

Zimbabwe would have hoped an experienced middle order would stabilise them, but Sean Williams and Craig Ervine went cheaply. Williams was worked over by Foulkes, who moved the ball away late, and edged to third slip, where Young took a diving catch to his right. Then, on the stroke of lunch, Ervine reached for a full, wide ball, and handed Young a third catch. Zimbabwe went to the break on 67 for 4, with Taylor on 33 and well set. His shot of the session was an upper cut off Duffy that was struck powerfully and placed well.

The same could not be said of the shot Taylor played in the afternoon, when Henry bowled on a good length outside off, and Taylor tried to drive off the back foot but chipped the ball to Santner. At the start of the next over, Foulkes set a leg-side trap for Sikandar Raza, and banged it in short and Raza walked straight in. He moved to the off side, and guided the ball into Rachin Ravindra’s hands. That was the third time in as many innings in this series that Raza was dismissed by the short ball.

Foulkes had Trevor Gwandu lbw three balls later, and Zimbabwe had crashed to 83 for 7. The end of the innings was only a matter of time. Henry picked up his fourth when Vincent Masekesa played down the wrong line and the ball hit the top of off stump, and his fifth when Blessing Muzarabani backed away and was bowled. Foulkes also chased a fifth, but Tsiga and Tanaka Chivanga resisted with a 25-run last wicket-stand.

Tsiga played a couple of well-timed shots through deep third and midwicket, and offered a rare glimmer of hope for Zimbabwe’s batting. But he ran out of partners when Chivanga failed to use his feet and drove Fisher to mid-off to give him a wicket on debut. Zimbabwe were bowled out inside 49 overs.

In response, New Zealand raced to 57 without loss after ten overs, and 40 of their runs came in boundaries. Conway got hold of fuller deliveries from Chivanga, while Young, who was struck on the glove, took on Muzarabani’s short ball. Zimbabwe’s new-ball pair then adjusted their lengths, but when Muzarabani and Chivanga went full, it was too full, and Conway cashed in. Chivanga’s fourth over cost 14 runs as Young cut him twice and then edged a back-of-a-length ball over the slips to bring up New Zealand’s fifty.

Gwandu’s introduction quietened things down, but only a touch, as New Zealand accumulated with ease. Chivanga changed ends, and it was off him that Young brought up his 11th Test fifty and New Zealand’s hundred with a flick through midwicket.

Zimbabwe’s best chance came shortly after the day’s final drinks break when Muzarabani drew Conway’s edge, but the chance died on Ervine at slip. Muzarabani also found the inside edge, but the ball raced away for four. Conway rode his luck, and then brought up his 13th Test fifty. New Zealand were in the lead with 14.4 overs left to play on the opening day.

They were 33 runs ahead when Masekesa thought he had the breakthrough. He hit Conway, on 72, in front of middle and leg, and appealed for lbw but it was turned down. Zimbabwe finally had some joy when Young tried to pull Gwandu but chopped on. Young remains without a century one inning into his 22nd Test. Conway finished the day on 79 not out alongside nightwatcher Duffy.

Brief scores:
New Zealand 174 for 1 (Devon Conway 79*, Will Young 74; Trevor Gwandu 1-31) lead Zimbabwe 125 in 48.5 overs (Brendan Taylor 44, Tafadzwa Tsiga 33*; Matt Henry 5-40, Zakary Foulkes 4-38) by 49 runs

[Cricinfo]

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Advisory for Severe Lightning issued for all provinces of Sri Lanka

Published

17 mins ago

2026/04/20

Priyan

Advisory for Severe Lightning
Issued by the Natural Hazards Early Warning Centre
Issued at 12.00 noon 20 April 2026 valid for the period until 11.00 p.m. 20 April 2026

Thundershowers accompanied with severe lightning are likely to occur most places in the island after 1.00 p.m.

There may be temporary localized strong winds during thundershowers. General public is kindly requested to take adequate precautions to minimize damages caused by lightning activity.

ACTION REQUIRED:

The Department of Meteorology advises that people should:

 Seek shelter, preferably indoors and never under trees.

 Avoid open areas such as paddy fields, tea plantations and open water bodies during thunderstorms.

 Avoid using wired telephones and connected electric appliances during thunderstorms.

 Avoid using open vehicles, such as bicycles, tractors and boats etc.

 Beware of fallen trees and power lines.

 For emergency assistance contact the local disaster management authorities.

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Oil prices rise after Trump says Iranian ship seized

Published

41 mins ago

2026/04/20

Priyan

Global oil prices have jumped after US President Donald Trump said its navy had intercepted and seized an Iran-flagged cargo ship.

The Brent crude benchmark oil price jumped 5% to around $95 (£70) a barrel, reversing the slump on Friday when Iran said the Strait of Hormuz would be “completely open” to commercial vessels for the remainder of the ceasefire.

On Saturday, Iran said it was closing the strait again and that any ship that approached it would be targeted.

The waterway is of key importance as usually about 20% of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas passes through it.

Energy markets have seen wild swings since the US and Israel attacked Iran on 28 February and Tehran responded with threats to target shipping in the strait.

Trump has said his representatives will be in Pakistan on Monday for negotiations. A White House official said Vice-President JD Vance would lead the US delegation.

But Iran’s state media said Tehran had “no plans for now to participate” in the talks, although Iranian officials have not clarified the country’s position yet.

“Oil markets continue to gyrate in response to oscillating social media posts by the US and Iran, rather than the realities on the ground which remain challenging for oil flows to resume in a rapid fashion”, analyst Saul Kavonic from financial services firm MST Marquee told the BBC.

“This is all part of negotiations, physically playing out in real time on the Strait of Hormuz.”

Shanti Kelemen, co-chief investment officer at 7 Investment Management, said there was “a bit of fatigue” in the market given the “chopping and changing” in the situation.

“I think the market stopped believing the words, and will look more towards the actions,” she told the BBC.

The Strait of Hormuz remained closed on Sunday, a day after the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) said it was ending a temporary reopening over the US blockade, which it said violated the terms of their ceasefire agreement. Iran said it would stay closed until the US ended its naval blockade.

Trump had said on Friday that the naval blockade would continue until a deal was agreed by the two countries.

Stock markets were mixed on Monday. In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of the biggest firms listed in the London fell 0.7%, while Germany’s Dax and France’s Cac 40 were both down more than 1%.

However, Asian markets had risen earlier, with Japan’s Nikkei index closing up 0.6% and South Korea’s Kospi climbing 0.4%.

[BBC]

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New Zealand declares state of emergency in Wellington as floods hit

Published

7 hours ago

2026/04/20

Priyan

Footage online show vehicles submerged, trees uprooted, houses hit by landslides [BBC]

New Zealand has declared a state of emergency in its capital city Wellington as torrential rain and flash flooding drenched the country’s North Island.

Footage online shows vehicles submerged, trees uprooted and houses hit by landslides. Wellington received a record 77mm (3in) of rain in less than an hour on Monday, said mayor Andrew Little.

Local authorities advised residents to hunker down, with rain forecast for the next day and a half. Some flights at Wellington Airport have been cancelled and several schools have shut their campuses.

More than a dozen people have been evacuated while a 60-year-old man in the Karori suburb has been reported missing. No fatalities have been reported so far.

This series of flash floods comes less than a week after Cyclone Vaianu swept through the North Island last weekend.

Research over the years have shown that climate change has made extreme weather events, including floods, more common and more intense around the world.

“The wild weather continues. We’ve had flooding, slips and evacuations… The flooding has been strong enough to move cars, and many manhole covers have been lifted,” Little said in a video published on his Facebook page.

In the suburb of Kingston, a resident told Radio New Zealand (RNZ) that he had tried to escape on the back of his neighbour’s motorbike after a landslide buried a nearby road in the early hours of Monday.

“It’s definitely a big event,” he said. “You wouldn’t have wanted to be under it, it wouldn’t have been survivable.”

Another resident in the suburb of Mornington said his garden had been “inundated with water, you couldn’t see the grass or anything”. There was a “huge deluge, flow, river in fact, flowing through the garden”, he told RNZ.

Mark Mitchell, the minister for emergency management and recovery, said they were expecting the “worst of the weather” later on Monday evening.

“If you are in the Wellington region, be prepared,” he said in a post on Facebook. “If you are going to evacuate make those decisions early and keep yourself updated with information.”

The emergency management office for the Wellington region has advised residents to cut or delay all non-essential travel, and for those residing in low-lying or flood-prone areas to consider relocating to their friends’ and families’ for at least the next 24 hours.

The Wellington City Mission has been set up for those who need shelter, the office added.

[BBC]