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Port-of-Spain
16 - 20 March 2000
With bad weather threatening, Zimbabwe won the toss and sent the West Indies to the crease. West Indies was 2 for 57 at lunch and then two overs after lunch, rain washed out the most of the day. Play resumed late in the evening and by stumps, West Indies were 3 for 79. West Indies resumed their innings on day two and they were soon 5 for 87. West Indies struggled on to post a first innings total of 187 with debutant Wavell Hinds running out of partners and top scoring with 46*. For Zimbabwe, Streak managed 4 for 45 off 24 overs.
Zimbabwe started disastrously, losing both openers for no runs and then a third wicket at 27. They managed to bat out the rest of the day to finish at 3 for 109. During a rain affected third day, Zimbabwe went on to score a total of 236 with a 49 run lead. Andy Flower top scored with 113* and Ambrose took 4 for 42 off 25 overs for West Indies.
On a rain shortened day four it was crunch time for the West Indies batsmen. And crunch they went with their first two wickets lost with no runs on the board ? that same as Zimbabwe. Losing a third wicket before wiping away the deficit, West Indies lost wickets regularly and lurched on to finish the day at 9 for 147 and a lead of 98 runs. They did not manage to add to their total before losing their final wicket 6 balls into day five. Top scorer was Chanderpaul with 49 while Streak was again the best bowler with 5 for 23 off 16 overs.
Zimbabwe then needed 99 runs from around 85 overs (less any rain stoppages) to win their fourth test in forty outings. Zimbabwe lost wickets at 4, 20, 37, 47, 51, 57, 57, 62, 63 and 63 to be all out just 36 runs short. Walsh (2 for 18) broke through immediately while Rose (4 for 19 off 13) cleaned out the middle order. Ambrose (3 for 8 off 11) destroyed the tail. This was the second lowest target ever defended in test cricket (ENG failed by 8 runs chasing AUS 85 in 1882).
Second Test
Kingston
24 - 28 March 2000
Zimbabwe again won the toss and this time elected for Plan B and batted themselves. The clearly lost the first session of the test after only making 1 for 9 in the first hour and then slumping to 3 for 40 at lunch. They recovered to be 5 for 220 when bad light ended the day?s play thanks mainly to Goodwin (113) and Andy Flower (66). They resumed the following morning and were eventually dismissed after lunch for 308 with a 50 run last wicket partnership. For West Indies, the best of the bowlers was King with 5 for 51 off 23 overs. With 2 wickets, Walsh moved past Hadlee to 432 wickets.
West Indies batted through the rest of the day to end in some trouble at 4 for 106. However, on day three new Captain Adams (87*) was the star, batting with the tail to end the day through bad light at 7 for 295. However, the batsmen struggled to score at 2 runs an over and the most likely outcome looked to be a draw.
Adams batted on into the fourth morning, eventually running out of partners to be 101 not out as West Indies posted a first innings total of 339 and a lead of 31 runs. Johnson managed 4 for 77 off 35 overs to be the most successful of the Zimbabwe bowlers.
Courtney Walsh then seized the moment and sent both Zimbabwe openers back to the pavilion at 2 for 14 and at the same time equalled Kepil Dev?s record of 434 test dismissals. When a draw for Zimbabwe meant batting out the day and perhaps a session on the last day, King and Ambrose then added to the Zimbabwe batsmen?s woes. Walsh eventually took the final wicket and claimed the record in his own right. Zimbabwe dismissed for 102 with Johnson top scoring with 29 and Walsh claiming 3 for 21 off 15.5 overs for West Indies.
With a victory target of only 72 runs, West Indies batted until stumps scoring 8 runs without loss and completed the task the following morning without further loss.
