Didn't want to play a shot in anger: Graeme Cremer

New Zealand won the first Test by an innings and 117 runs but Zimbabwe made the visitors wait for an inevitable win on the fourth day on Sunday (July 31). Trent Boult nipped out Craig Ervine in the second over of the day but failed to pick up another for the entire session.

Sean Williams (119) and Graeme Cremer frustrated the New Zealand bowlers for 33.2 overs to score 118 runs for the seventh wicket. Williams went on to notch up his maiden Test ton while Cremer kept New Zealand at bay for 130 deliveries that yielded 33 runs.

The Zimbabwe captain revealed they learnt watching New Zealand bat in the first innings. "We spoke about it after the first innings. We thought we were a little bit soft upfront but being in the field for so long, we realised what Test cricket is about," Cremer said. "We watched them (New Zealand) bat. They didn't play any shots out of frustration or anger and we wanted to do the same."

Cremer acknowledged his role was to stay in the middle and play second fiddle to Williams. "I knew batting with Sean, he scored quite freely anyway, so I knew I had to play the supporting role," he revealed. "He was hitting a boundary an over and we didn't need to score quicker than that. I just needed to stay there.

"He was feeling quite ill but credit to him. He was a little bit loose when he got out to bat and got a bit lucky but there he dominated. The player that he is, he can do that on wickets like this. He has got good hands and good eyes."

Kane Williamson, on the other hand, credited his bowlers for the Test win. This was Williamson's first Test as captain and the 25-year-old felt the bowlers did well to earn 20 wickets.

"The way we bowled in the first innings was a huge part of how we got ahead," he pointed out. "When you are tying to bowl that again, it's going to be extremely challenging.

"Sometimes, on surfaces like this one, you need to try and be a little bit creative. You want to try and make things hostile and difficult but you also need to be patent and build pressure. It was a very good effort to get 20 wickets. We knew it was going to be tough. We had to fight very hard to pick up the wickets that we did. That first innings put us ahead of the game. It was extremely important to have some hostile bowling on a surface that didn't offer much."