New Zealand cricket team in Zimbabwe in 2005

New Zealand won by 29 runs. Craig Cumming made 116 to lift the tourists to 330 for 6 in their first match at Windhoek against Namibia, a team coming off a disappointing ICC Trophy tournament, where they finished seventh and did not qualify for the 2007 World Cup. In reply, Namibia crashed to 75 for 5, but recovered to 301 all out, despite economical bowling from fast bowler Shane Bond who was returning from injury and took two for 20 in 10 overs. Cricinfo scorecard

New Zealand won by 148 runs. The Black Caps batted first again and made 326 for 5. Brendon McCullum scored 84 not out and Nathan Astle an unbeaten 73, to help amass a fine 50 over total. This time, though, the Namibians weren't allowed to get away to a high score, as Shane Bond and Chris Martin took two wickets each and helped them collapse to 178. Daniel Vettori polished off the tail with three for 24. Cricinfo scorecard

7–11 August[n 1] Scorecard

New Zealand	v	Zimbabwe
452/9d (89 overs) Daniel Vettori 127 (98) Blessing Mahwire 3/115 (26 overs)		59 (29.4 overs) Stuart Carlisle 20* (66) James Franklin 3/11 (5 overs)
		99 (49.5 overs) (f/o) Hamilton Masakadza 42 (79) Daniel Vettori 4/28 (13.5 overs)

New Zealand won by an innings and 294 runs Harare Sports Club, Harare Umpires: Mark Benson (Eng) and Darrell Hair (Aus) Player of the match: Daniel Vettori (NZ)

• Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to field.
• Neil Ferreira (Zim) made his Test debut.
• Zimbabwe became only the second team to be dismissed twice in a single day's play since India in 1952.[2]

New Zealand ran out easy winners in the First Test, winning inside two days by such a margin that it again called the Zimbabweans Test status into question. After the Zimbabwean seamers made early inroads to surprise both the New Zealand batsmen and neutral spectators, New Zealand got the match into their groove. Heath Streak, making his return to international cricket after a one-year self-imposed exile following a dispute with the national selectors, bowled well without much reward, while from the other end Blessing Mahwire removed both openers with three balls, as New Zealand wobbled to 24 for 2. Stephen Fleming and Hamish Marshall rebuilt quickly, punishing Streak in particular, and runs flowed - until Hamish Marshall was lbw to Chris Mpofu with a good in-cutter. New Zealand survived to lunch, but then Nathan Astle and Scott Styris fell, and suddenly the score was 113 for 5.

From there, the situation deteriorated for Zimbabwe. Chris Mpofu injured his leg and had to go off the field, leaving only three bowlers, whom Brendon McCullum and Daniel Vettori attacked with venom. Both reached their centuries in less than 100 balls, Vettori smacking twenty fours and two sixes in his 127 before finally being bowled by Streak. Vettori had enjoyed a slice of luck - having inside edged onto his leg stump, the bail refused to fall down, and Vettori made a further 60. By the time he was out, the score had exploded to 432 for 9 - helped by Shane Bond's blitzing 41. At stumps on day one, New Zealand were 452 for 9, and comfortably back in the drivers' seat, as Zimbabwe were left to rue all the poor deliveries in the evening session - which had yielded 213 runs.

James Franklin and Chris Martin led the NZ attack, taking three wickets each for almost no runs at all, as the Zimbabwean's were dismissed for a dismal 59, with only Taylor (10) and Carlisle (20 not out) and extras (14) making double figures. Five players, including all-rounder Streak failed to score. Forced to follow on, the home side managed 99 in nearly 50 overs. Hamilton Masakadza's 42 was the sole highlight, while nine batsmen were dismissed in single figures, and Vettori enjoyed a cheap four for 28.

15–19 August[n 1] Scorecard

Zimbabwe	v	New Zealand
231 (79 overs) Tatenda Taibu 76 (157) Shane Bond 6/51 (17 overs)		484 (111.1 overs) Nathan Astle 128 (217) Heath Streak 4/73 (22 overs)
207 (61.1 overs) Brendan Taylor 77 (129) Shane Bond 4/48 (14 overs)

New Zealand won by an innings and 46 runs Queens Sports Club, Bulawayo Umpires: Mark Benson (Eng) and Darrell Hair (Aus) Player of the match: Shane Bond (NZ)

• Zimbabwe won the toss and elected to bat.
• Keith Dabengwa (Zim) made his Test debut.
• Blessing Mahwire scored the fastest half-century by an Zimbabwe player (34 balls).[3]
• Shane Bond surpassed Chris Martin to become the quickest New Zealand bowler to claim 50 wickets (12 Tests).[4]

New Zealand ran out comfortable winners yet again, but at least Zimbabwe put up some kind of fight with the bat, passing 200 in both innings. Tatenda Taibu, the Zimbabwean captain, won the toss and chose to bat - and immediately saw the full fury of fast bowler Shane Bond, whose inswingers took care of Dion Ebrahim for 0 and Stuart Carlisle for 1. Bond got a wicket in each of his first three overs, also dismissing Hamilton Masakadza without scoring. Zimbabwe had made seven runs for three wickets, and looked to fade to another sub-100 score.

However, Brendan Taylor wanted to repair his dire first Test. After a good partnership with Craig Wishart, the score stood at 74 for 4, and Taylor was there with Tatenda Taibu - however, he went for an overly aggressive cut shot, and Shane Bond got his fourth wicket of the morning session. He got another with the next ball, and by lunch, Zimbabwe were 75 for 6. Taibu, however, recorded his highest innings as captain against anyone except Bangladesh, and his partnership with Blessing Mahwire turned things from total despair to slight hope. Zimbabwe were eventually all out for 231, Daniel Vettori finishing off with the last two wickets after having bowled 27 of 79 overs in the innings.

Zimbabwe got a good start by dismissing both Marshall twins, James and Hamish, in successive overs. Hamish's dismissal concluded the day, but Zimbabwe would be hopeful before the second day started. That hope quickly turned to despair. Twenty-eight overs were bowled before lunch, but Zimbabwe failed to take a single wicket, and New Zealand moved into a comfortable position at 180 for 2. New Zealand could push on the accelerator, Nathan Astle getting 128 and Lou Vincent 92, as New Zealand amassed 406 runs on the second day. Graeme Cremer, the leg spinner, bowled 24 overs for 111 runs, to illustrate the Zimbabweans' predicament. Test debutant Keith Dabengwa got two for 87, however, suggesting that he might be a better choice than Cremer for the spinner place in the Zimbabwean team.

Having been bowled out in 11 overs on the third morning, New Zealand went out into the field with a lead of 253 runs. And the second Zimbabwean innings proceeded in much the same way as the first - Bond dismissing Ebrahim early, Brendan Taylor and Tatenda Taibu staging a recovery, before Blessing Mahwire staged fireworks towards the end. Three of the wickets came as run outs, the last one with Chris Mpofu running back towards Mahwire, who was concentrating on celebrating his half-century. This had evidently not registered with Mpofu, and before he realised his mistake, the stumps at his end were down. Following the match, Zimbabwe's coach Phil Simmons was sacked and replaced with former Zimbabwean international and Zimbabwe A coach Kevin Curran.

Please see Videocon Tri-Series 2005 for a full treatment of the one-day international matches with Zimbabwe and India.