Gudakesh Motie ended with match figures of 13-99, the best ever for a West Indies spinner in Tests, as the West Indies defeated Zimbabwe by an innings and four runs on day three of the second Test at the Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo to complete a 1-0 series win.
Following West Indies’ series win over Zimbabwe, Chairman of the senior selection panel west indies legend Dr. Desmond Haynes has extended congratulations to a duo, Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Gudakesh Motie for their heroics.
Chanderpaul’s unbeaten 207 in the first Test ensured West Indies a draw and in the process broke several records including the first triple-century opening partnership for West Indies in Test with Kraigg Brathwaite while also becoming the first opener apart from Brathwaite to score a century in a decade.
“I would like to congratulate the team first because I find when we are playing Test cricket in particular, away Test matches are not easy to win, it doesn’t matter who you are playing against and first I would like to congratulate young Chanderpaul, Shiv’s [Shivnarine] son on breaking the opening partnership of 336 runs they made against Zimbabwe, I think it’s a fantastic effort, Kraigg continues to lead from the front, to see the young man Chanderpaul getting a double hundred in only a couple of Test matches I think he set a bench mark for bigger things and I hope he continues in this way,” Haynes stated during a press conference yesterday.
West Indies turn their attention to a tour of South Africa, which includes two Test matches, as well as white-ball cricket involving One Day International (ODI) and T20 series.
This trip to South Africa will mark the first time that separate captains, recently appointed Mr Shai Hope for ODIs and Mr Rovman Powell (T20s), will be in charge of the West Indies in white-ball formats.