West Indies take first innings lead against Zimbabwe

Day 2 at the Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados, 13 March 2013End of day: Zimbabwe (211 and 41/3) trail West (307) by 55 runs.

Hosts West Indies resumed their first innings on 18 for two on Tuesday, trailing Zimbabwe by 193 runs and with eight wickets in hand, at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados.

It looked like they would continue to trail, as the Zimbabwe bowlers set out to build on the platform of the first day.

Then at 151 for six, enter the captain Darren Sammy. He set out to overhaul the Zimbabwe lead and did so in style, putting up 73 runs himself. It was a brisk knock coming from 69 balls, eight of them fours and four sixes. But the fourth Test half-century was all the captain would get as he was then bowled by Hamilton Masakadza.

The West Indies first innings finished on 307, thanks to the bowling exploits of Kyle Jarvis who kept getting wickets at key intervals, starting on the day with the key scalp of Darren Bravo (11) whom he had caught by wicket-keeper Regis Chakabva then Shivnarine Chanderpaul, again caught by Chakabva, but on 26, and finally Tino Best who went for 24 – caught by Graeme Cremer.

The Zimbabwe second innings wobbled early on as the three key wickets of openers Tinotenda Mawoyo (9) and Vusimuzi Sibanda (15) and number three Hamilton Masakadza (1) fell cheaply, to leave the tourists 41 for three.

They resume Thursday with night watchman Raymond Price on seven and captain Brendan Taylor still to score.