Klusener confident of Zimbabwe batting out final day

A fondness for the fight at the end of an innings still flickers in Lance Klusener, South Africa’s former and to date only real finisher. Now, in his role as Zimbabwe’s batting coach, Klusener is eagerly anticipating the final day of the second Test against New Zealand, even with his side three down and 329 runs adrift of the target of 387.

“We are pretty confident we can bat for the day,” Klusener said at the end of day four. “The pitch is pretty good and New Zealand have been in the field for a long time. From a team growth point of view, I am really looking forward to it.”

Klusener’s charges showed marked improvement from the first-Test performance when they collapsed to 36 for 4 and 164 all out in the first innings and 17 for 4 in the second, when they eventually totaled 295. They’ve done better in the second Test, with a first innings total of 362 which included a half-century opening stand, a 148-run partnership for the sixth wicket and a second hundred by a Zimbabwe batsmen in the series with Craig Ervine joining Sean Williams as a centurion.

The difference, Klusener explained, came with a chance in mindset. “We wanted to place a value on our wickets. In the first Test match, there were a couple too many soft dismissals. There were a couple that were a bit soft again here but we were prepared to grind out tough sessions and bat time. We want to make sure bowlers work hard for our wickets, like we had to do for …

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