NZ crushes Zim by innings and 359 runs in record test victory
Published: 10 August 2025, 2:26:27
New Zealand sealed its biggest-ever Test win on Saturday, thrashing Zimbabwe by an innings and 359 runs in the second Test to sweep the two-match series 2-0 in Harare.
Trailing by 476 runs, Zimbabwe was skittled for 117 before lunch on Day 3 against a relentless pace attack. Debutant Zakary Foulkes starred with 5-37, completing match figures of 9-75 — the best by a New Zealand Test debutant, surpassing Will O’Rourke’s 9-93 against South Africa last year.
Matt Henry (2-16), Jacob Duffy (2-28) and Matthew Fisher (1-22) also struck as Zimbabwe folded in just 28.1 overs, recording its lowest total of the series. Only Nick Welch (47 not out) and skipper Craig Ervine (17) reached double figures.
New Zealand had declared overnight on a commanding 601-3 — its highest-ever total against Zimbabwe — with Rachin Ravindra (165) and Henry Nicholls (150) adding 256 for the fourth wicket. Devon Conway also hit 153, his first Test ton in over two years.
Henry, who finished the series with 16 wickets, set the tone early, clean bowling Brian Bennett for a pair before removing Brendan Taylor cheaply in his comeback match. Foulkes then ripped through the middle and lower order in a blistering six-over spell.
New Zealand’s previous biggest Test win was also against Zimbabwe — an innings and 301-run triumph at Napier in 2012. For Zimbabwe, it marked a sixth straight Test defeat in 2025.
“It’s disappointing, especially the way we finished today,” Ervine admitted. “We faced a high-skilled opposition and it shows where we stand in the Test circuit.”
New Zealand had earlier won the first Test by nine wickets, also inside three days, before completing a clean sweep of the tour by winning a preceding T20 tri-series featuring Zimbabwe and South Africa.
