West Indies claimed four second innings wickets and were marching towards another comprehensive victory over Zimbabwe at lunch on the third day of the second and final Test at Windsor Park on Friday.
After declaring at their overnight position of 8-381, and with a first innings lead of 206, the hosts reduced the visitors to 4-77 at the interval, still 129 runs away from avoiding an innings defeat.
Craig Ervine and Malcolm Waller were set to continue the struggle for the Zimbabweans on the resumption.
But even with the possibility of a significant rearguard for the rest of the day, defeat seems inevitable for the Caribbean side’s outclassed opponents with two scheduled days still left to complete the match if necessary.
There was more than a touch of controversy to the fall of the first wicket of the day when two reversals of umpiring decisions in the same over from Tino Best eventually resulted in the dismissal of Hamilton Masakadza.
Initially given out caught at the wicket by umpire Tony Hill, the verdict was reviewed and overturned on the evidence of television replays and consultation with TV umpire Bruce Oxenford.
An aggrieved Best was a much happier man two deliveries later when another appeal for a catch by wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin off the same batsman was ruled “not out” by Hill, only for West Indies captain Darren Sammy’s request for a review to be upheld by Oxenford.
In breaking that opening stand of 35, the floodgates opened swiftly with the introduction of Shane Shillingford, the off-spinner lifting his tally in the match to seven in dismissing Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor via a bat-pad catch by Kieran Powell at short-leg.
He then removed debutant Sean Williams who miscued an attempted cut to Shivnarine Chanderpaul at point.
In between, Sammy accounted for Vusi Sibanda by the lbw route, the opener falling for 35 to an injudicious shot that typified the lack of application necessary to offer any significant resistance and stall the West Indies’ pursuit of a sixth consecutive Test victory.