Zimbabwe in New Zealand (2012)

Zimbabwe were excellent last time these two teams met, but NZ are massive favourites if the Napier wicket has any tinge of greenness to it, which I would suspect would be the case. Zimbabwe are lacking quality pace bowlers and it's doubtful their batsmen would have faced too much decent seam bowling in the past.

ZIM'a batting is highly dependent on Brendon and Taibu and now may be to an extent Waller also but others will have to step up, if the wicket has grass on it and if it does move arond a bit then I think should NZL bat first, Jarvis and Meth too can do some damage, they are not that bad. However, NZL will still be overwhelming favorites to win the test.

New Zealand in command after day 1 of the test match. A captain's knock from Taylor being the major contribution with an unbeaten 111. Brendon McCullum made 83 and Guptil 51 in an opening stand of 124.  At stumps New Zealand are 331-5 and Zimbabwe are staring down the barrel already....

I'd love to see Zimbabwe give them a fight, looks like a good wicket and short boundaries, hopefully the other Taylor and co will also come good. Disappointed with ZIM's bowling today though, they should have done better.

Captain Ross Taylor is injured, that is a big set back for NZL esp considering their series against RSA next month.

It's kind of sad to see Zimbabwe performing like this. I mean they had competed so well in the match against New Zealand at home last year. To say this was a thrashing is an understatement, and with due respect New Zealand aren't even one of the worlds best sides.

Very disappointing performance from the Zimbabweans, but I think they should take heart from the fact that NZ came off a miraculous win against the Aussies and really, really had their tails up. The loss will hurt, but I do think they're a decent side - just need to find a couple more decent pace bowlers, and perhaps a little bit more support in the middle order. That will come in time and hopefully the selection improves. I have said this time and time again, I do think there is some sort of quasi-quota system in place, because there never seems to be more than 4 whites in the side at the same time and I think that's wrong and will only send the side backwards. They need to pick the best players, even if it means picking 5 or 6 whites.

Good bowling performance this time by ZIM, once again though Batting is letting them down, lose 3 early chasing 249.

Sledge - NZL look very good because they are bowling against a very weak batting line-up in ZIM and batting against a very inexperienced ZIM attack. Can't really say they will give SA a challenge based on these performances alone. With no Taylor and no Ryder, their batting looks very bare and they have no X-factor bowler like Malinga or an unknown quantity like Senanayake to cause SA problems like the few problems SL caused. Plus SA travel better than they play at home based on recent performances so I am expecting SA to be all over NZL. 

Absolutely, I've always been an admirer of NZL cricket because despite being such a small nation and Rugby being the most famous sport, NZL continue to produce fantastic cricketers and compete so very well in the international arena.

Guys, I agree that the Kiwis will not give an inch and fight till the very end. I also know that historically SA aren't ruthless and don't always make the most of the gaps in quality but I just think that SA are better than NZL in every department. NZL are a determined side but take a few names out and you have to say it looks very inexperienced. I will be surprised if NZL win a Test but if they do then all credit to them. 

yes, very disappointing to see, I don't know how good Rob Nicol is but looks like he is a decent kind of all rounder, he gets wickets too! I must say NZL are looking a very good ODI and T20 side and will be a serious contender come the World T20 in september.

End of a forgettable tour for ZIM but they ended with a bit of a fight, 200 but it got chased down, However, lets not be too harsh on ZIM, it's after a very long time that they ahve started touring countries like NZL, so surely it'll take them some time to get their act right.