New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner praised his team’s bowling performance after their victory against Zimbabwe, particularly highlighting their first innings effort.New Zealand secured their largest Test cricket win, defeating Zimbabwe by an innings and 359 runs at Bulawayo on Saturday. The victory featured centuries from Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, and Rachin Ravindra, along with a remarkable bowling spell by Zakary Foulkes.The win marks New Zealand’s 2-0 series triumph and stands as the third-largest victory margin in Test cricket history. Only England’s innings and 579-run win over Australia in 1938 and Australia’s innings and 360-run victory against South Africa surpass this margin.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“A great game in all aspects. We were challenged at times throughout the game, and I guess we kind of got through those periods by cashing in on it. I think the way we bowled, especially in the first innings, it was probably a little bit there, but the way we bowled Zimbabwe for 120 in that first innings, and then we could really cash in with the bat, can’t really complain about anything from this game,” said Santner in the post-match press conference.“We’ve seen Zak in some of the white ball stuff, and I guess here, as someone kind of swinging into the right-hander is, you don’t see that often,” added Santner.“So I guess another addition to our attack with the guys who are moving the ball away. So he was outstanding, and when the lefties come on, he looks pretty tough to play. To get, I guess, nine in the game on debut is a pretty good effort.
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How impressed were you with Zakary Foulkes’ debut performance?
“It’s obviously a nice thing to finish the tour on a win. But in that tri-series, we were challenged at different stages against two good teams in Harare, and then to score the first goal, I guess to make the final, and then to win in a close game against South Africa was cool.”“Then coming here, again, a different challenge, different surface, different conditions, and the boys looked at home and stepped up, which was great to see. I guess we will reflect on the series, the good and bad, and then we get back home, and I guess get to play in friendlier conditions than what we were going to get here.“But the way the new seam group this game stepped up, it puts us in a great position when we go home, as we’ve got plenty of options with the ball. Jamieson will probably be back in, Kane’s back in as well with the bat, so it could be a slightly different-looking team. But guys who come in and step up straight away, it’s a great position to be in,” he concluded.