Shane Bond's devastating pace and Tatenda Taibu's defiance dominated the first day of the second Test between Zimbabwe and New Zealand on Monday.
New Zealand reached stumps on 48 for two in reply to Zimbabwe's first innings of 231, which they scored after winning the toss and choosing to bat.
Fast bowler Bond took a career-best six for 51, his third five-wicket haul, while Taibu's 76 was the cornerstone of Zimbabwe's rebuilt innings.
Bond, who went into his 12th Test with 46 wickets, broke Chris Martin's New Zealand record of reaching 50 wickets in 13 matches. His previous career-best performance was the five for 78 he took against West Indies in Barbados in 2002.
The pitch was flat and true and there was no hint of swing, but Bond profited by bowling his express deliveries at a full length and extracting enough bounce to cause problems.
He struck with the second ball of the match when he trapped Dion Ebrahim in front without a run on the board. By the end of his third over he had also removed Stuart Carlisle and Hamilton Masakadza as Zimbabwe crashed to seven for three.
Brendan Taylor and Craig Wishart batted solidly in their stand to 58 before Wishart, who hit five fours in his 30, drove at a delivery from left-arm fast bowler James Franklin and was caught by Nathan Astle diving low to his right in the gully.
GRITTY PARTNERSHIP
Bond returned before lunch and had Taylor and Heath Streak caught behind by wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum with successive deliveries. Taylor showed composure in scoring his 37.
Debutant Keith Dabengwa, bowled by medium pacer Martin for 17, comfortably kept out Bond's would be hat-trick delivery, and faced 15 balls before scoring his first Test runs with a pull for six off the bowling of left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori.
Dabengwa helped Taibu add 49 for the seventh wicket, and the Zimbabwe captain and Blessing Mahwire then shared 88 in a gritty partnership for the eighth wicket.
The stand was ended after tea when Taibu, who hit 11 fours and a six, pulled a delivery from Bond and holed out to Vettori at mid-wicket. Mahwire was caught at mid-on by Astle off Vettori's bowling for 42, his career-best score.
New Zealand lost their first wicket eight balls before the close when James Marshall, who scored 10, cut a delivery from Streak and fell to a sharp head-high catch in the gully by Carlisle.
They were 48 for two with what became the last ball of the day's play when Hamish Marshall was run out for 13 in a mix-up that saw both him and Lou Vincent running towards the same end.
Vincent was 20 not out at stumps.
Scorecard:
Zimbabwe 1st innings
D. Ebrahim lbw b Bond 0
B. Taylor c McCullum b Bond 37
S. Carlisle lbw b Bond 1
H. Masakadza c Martin b Bond 0
C. Wishart c Astle b Franklin 30
T. Taibu c Vettori b Bond 76
H. Streak c McCullum b Bond 0
K. Dabengwa b Martin 17
B. Mahwire c Astle b Vettori 42
G. Cremer not out 7
C. Mpofu c J. Marshall b Vettori 7
Extras (lb-4 nb-10) 14
Total (all out, 79 overs) 231
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-3, 3-7, 4-65, 5-74, 6-74, 7-123, 8-211, 9-217, 10-231
Bowling
Bond 17 - 4 - 51 - 6 (nb-1)
Franklin 12 - 3 - 43 - 1 (nb-3)
Martin 13 - 4 - 42 - 1 (nb-2)
Styris 4 - 2 - 9 - 0
Vettori 27 - 9 - 56 - 2 (nb-3)
Astle 6 - 2 - 26 - 0
New Zealand 1st innings
J. Marshall c Carlisle b Streak 10
L. Vincent not out 20
H. Marshall run out 13
Extras (nb-5) 5
Total (for 2 wickets, 9.3 overs) 48
Fall of wickets: 1-34, 2-48
To bat: S. Fleming, N. Astle, S. Styris, B. McCullum, D. Vettori, J. Franklin, S. Bond, C. Martin
Bowling
Streak 5 - 1 - 27 - 1 (nb-4)
Mahwire 4.3 - 1 - 21 - 0 (nb-1)
