On the third day, West Indies firmly established their control over the Bulawayo Test with a completely dominant performance that saw them declare 447/6 and then reduce Zimbabwe to 114/3 by Stumps.
The day's star was Tagenarine Chanderpaul, who turned his overnight ton into a big, unbeaten double hundred. He was composed to begin the day, allowing Kraigg Brathwaite to take over and add 336 runs for the first wicket with him. In Test cricket, it was the West Indies' highest opening stand.
Brathwaite, who scored 182 runs before Wellington Masakadza got him caught behind the stumps, set the tone early by hitting three boundaries off Ngarava in the third over of the day. He also went after Mavuta and scored 150 against the spinner in the first over. In the morning session, WI scored 153, largely thanks to him. On the other hand, Chanderpaul played the perfect foil and chose his deliveries well. He scored his first boundary closer to lunch, and Chibhabha gave him a break on 150 when he dropped a catch at fine leg off Mavuta's bowling. On 167, Brathwaite was also let off because Mavuta missed a great chance to return the ball.
In the second session, Chanderpaul started scoring, and as the session went on, he became more confident and determined. He smoked Masakadza over mid-off to reach his double ton with a six while he was on 199*.
Zimbabwe only appeared to be in the game during the middle session, when WI lost four wickets in an hour in an effort to score quickly. To get rid of Riefer and Blackwood, Mavuta hit in consecutive innings. But Tagenarine kept scoring runs and even hit a six against Wellington Masakadza. Even though West Indies' goal was to score 61 runs, Roston Chase died trying to score quick runs.
In response, Zimbabwe's openers made it to Tea without incident, and Inncoent Kaia even scored his first Test runs. On his debut, he went on to score 59* for the day. Kaia made 63 for the first wicket with Tanunurwa Makoni before the latter was caught at first slip while attempting to drive a delivery from Alzarri Joseph. Gudakesh Motie took Chibhabha out, but the real blow came from Stumps taking out captain Craig Ervine; A snappy delivery from Brathwaite bowled him.
Brief Scores: West Indies 447/6 dec/ (Chanderpaul 207*, Brathwaite 182; Mavuta 5-140) lead Zimbabwe 114/3 (Kaia 59*; Brathwaite 1-5) by 333 runs