Taylor keeps Zimbabwe afloat

25 overs Zimbabwe 91 for 4 (Taylor 52*, Waller 7*) need another 158 runs to beat New Zealand 248 (Guptill 70, Shingi Masakadza 4-46)

Brendan Taylor struck a confident 25th one-day fifty to give Zimbabwe a chance of chasing down New Zealand's 248 all out at the University Oval. Zimbabwe lost three early wickets, before the Zimbabwe captain rebuilt alongside Tatenda Taibu, and had Malcolm Waller for company at the end of the 25th over, with the score on 91 for 4.

Taylor and Waller had been the heroes in Zimbabwe's last one-day encounter, where they hunted down 329 against the same opposition. But the pair face a stiffer task in more difficult away conditions, with the required rate already well over a run a ball.

It seemed Zimbabwe's continuous collapse from the Napier Test had rolled on into the one-dayers as the visitors stumbled to 15 for 3 after 6.1 overs. Kyle Mills removed Stuart Matsikenyeri with an indipper that has proved fruitful for both sides' pacemen, before Andrew Ellis ran out a ponderous Hamilton Masakadza with a direct hit from midwicket. The most chilling omen for Zimbabwe, though, was Regis Chakabva's timid edge to first slip. In near-perfect emulation of any number of Napier dismissals, Chakabva poked at one that pitched short of a length and moved slightly away to offer a simple catch to first slip.

Brendon McCullum stacked the slips, with New Zealand bowlers were almost salivating as they ran in to ping that familiar line and length, but despite several jumpy prods from Taibu, another quick wicket was not forthcoming from Zimbabwe's most experienced batting pair.

While Taibu came to grips with the pace and bounce of the surface, Taylor took the edge off a rising required run-rate with calculated strikes down the ground. He rode his luck too, with an attempted slash over backward point ending as a top edge that flew over the keeper's head, but his risks were necessary ones, until Taibu eventually found fluency with a square cut off Tim Southee.

He was caught for 20, attempting an inside-out thrash off Ellis, before Taylor completed his fifty from 59 deliveries.

New Zealand 248 (Guptill 70, Shingi Masakadza 4-46) v Zimbabwe

	Martin Guptill's 70 held the New Zealand innings together in the early stages © Getty Images Enlarge
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Zimbabwe repeatedly threatened to derail New Zealand, but could only manage to contain them as the hosts spluttered to 248 all out in 48.3 overs in the first one-dayer in Dunedin. The New Zealand innings never found fluency following the loss of two early wickets, with regular losses thwarting hopes of a commanding total. Zimbabwe meanwhile, never closed in for the kill, with inconsistent bowling allowing New Zealand's inexperienced batting order to lurch their side to an underwhelming, but competitive, total in a series of starts.

Five of New Zealand's middle-order batsmen failed to reach fifty having made more than 15 in not unfriendly conditions. Promising partnerships were crimped just as they sought to wrest the advantage, with an occasionally lively pitch and canny limited-overs bowling from Zimbabwe hauling the hosts back at regular intervals. Kane Williamson and Andrew Ellis were dismissed off slower deliveries, while Martin Guptill and Nathan McCullum were felled by ones that came in to take the stumps.

Elton Chigumbura was effective for the visitors in the middle overs, with changes of pace and modest movement that never allowed the batsmen to settle. Shingi Masakadza's impressive Test debut earned him a start, and he performed once more, taking 4 for 46 from 9.3 overs.

Guptill's 66-ball 70 at the top of the order was the only notable score for the hosts, as he and Williamson rescued New Zealand who threatened a familiar collapse at 4 for 2. Opener Rob Nicol attacked from the outset, striding forward to meet Keegan Meth's first ball of the innings, but was unable to fashion runs out of intent. A lavish drive undid him for no score when he edged Meth's outswinger.

Brendon McCullum meanwhile was bested by Kyle Jarvis' variation - though it only took two balls. Jarvis followed up an outswinger with one that darted in to catch McCullum on the crease with no shot offered.

Zimbabwe should have had Guptill soon after too, had they been more patient. Having been stifled by early movement, Guptill lashed out at Meth with a lofted drive over mid-on and Tatenda Taibu saw enough cause in the batsman's first boundary to move up to the stumps. He regretted his decision the very next delivery, when he spilt an edge he would have comfortably pouched in his regular position.

Kane Williamson eased into the innings with a flurry of runs to the leg side, as the Zimbabwe bowlers strayed straight too often - perhaps spurred by early success to look for big swing. He combined with Guptill to overcome the early totter, the pair gradually unfurling their shot range as the swing dried up to advance the rate to over five an over.

Placement and sharp running was the hallmark of the partnership, as the pair put on 88 for the third wicket. Guptill also exploited the wayward Zimbabwe bowling to crash boundaries - mostly through the on side, as he reached his half-century from 44 deliveries just after Williamson perished.

Guptill's dismissal in the 25th over brought another minor collapse, though 19-year-old Tom Latham found enough time during his 24 to show glimmers of the promise that prompted selectors to bring him into the one-day squad after 10 List A matches.

Nathan McCullum and Andrew Ellis saw New Zealand through the batting Powerplay with a 57-run partnership and kicked the tempo back up to run-a-ball following a wicket-induced mini stagnation. Fresh from a 96 in a domestic one-dayer two days ago, McCullum piloted the risk-averse hitting and persevered with scampered short singles despite having run Dean Brownlie out for 19. Debutant Andrew Ellis soon eclipsed him with measured boundaries of his own, but when the pair fell with the slog-overs approaching, the hosts were forced to delay the final onslaught.

The acceleration never came however, as a buoyant Zimbabwe attack polished off the tail without much ado. Zimbabwe will need every ounce of resilience and application to exorcise the memory of the Napier catastrophe on a similar track, but given the total, two successive one-day victories against New Zealand may not be beyond them.