left-arm seamer Neil Wagner’s raw pace and aggression proved too much for an out-of-touch Zimbabwean batting lineup as New Zealand stamped their authority on the first Test on the opening day at Queens Sports Club.
On a surface offering little to the bowlers, Wagner bent his back and used the short ball to good effect to take career-best figures of 6 for 41, bowling Zimbabwe out for just 164 after they had won the toss and elected to bat first.
New Zealand closed the day on 32 without loss, with Tom latham on 16 and Martin Guptill on 14. Zimbabwe had not played a Test since November 2014, and the hiatus showed in their inability to occupy the crease on a pitch that held no demons.
Opener Brian Chari fell to the second ball of the day, and after Chamu Chibhabha and Masakadza offered some stability with an hour-long stand, Wagner got stuck into the hosts.
In a 13-over spell either side of the lunch break, the 30-year-old removed Chibhabha and Sean Williams before the interval and then struck three times in one over to reduce the hosts to 72 for eight. All but one of his first five dismissals came from short deliveries, as Zimbabwe's batsmen had no answer to the ploy.
Debutant Prince Masvaure and tailender Donald Tiripano did their best to haul the home side towards some sort of respectability, batting nearly three hours in an 85-run stand for the ninth wicket. Proving that the top order had no excuses for their frailty, Tiripano registered the highest score by a Zimbabwean No 10.