Devon Smith is hoping to make the most of what he calls a “golden opportunity” during the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2013. The left-handed opener was away from the international stage for three years, but has been recalled following heavy scoring in the recently-concluded WICB Regional 4 Day and Regional Super 50 tournaments.

He was the leading batsman in both competitions with 700 runs at an average of 70 in the first-class championship. He was equally impressive in the 50-over format with 348 runs at 58 runs per innings.

Chris Gayle followed up more destructive bowling from Shane Shillingford with a crisp, unbeaten half-century to put West Indies in charge of the second Test against Zimbabwe on Wednesday here. Off-spinner Shillingford, playing before an adoring home crowd, captured 5-59 from 21.5 overs, as Zimbabwe, put in to bat, were bowled out for 175 in their first innings about 20 minutes after tea on the rain-affected opening day at Windsor Park.

Gayle then gave tell-tale signs that he may be returning to his fluent best, striking 10 fours and one six in 61 not out, anchoring the Windies to 114 for two at the close on a day which started half-hour later than scheduled.

Darren Sammy will take inspiration from the great Sir Garfield Sobers when he leads the West Indies into battle in the second Test against Zimbabwe at Windsor Park. Sammy recently met with the legend during a function to celebrate the team’s recent successes and said he was delighted to have the opportunity to sit and listen to words of advice from the game’s greatest allrounder.

“We take inspiration from different things. Last weekend we had a function and I had a chat with Sir Garry – one of my all-time cricket icons – and it was a good chat. He gave me some inspiring words to share with the team and urged us to move on from strength to strength. That coming from someone like Sir Garry is motivation in itself,” Sammy said on Tuesday.

Toby Radford has called for more of the same from the West Indies as they prepare for the second and final Test match against Zimbabwe. The West Indies Assistant Coach lauded the team for their dominance over the visitors in all three formats of the game during the ongoing series. They won the One-Day Internationals 3-0 at the Grenada National Stadium; took the T20s 2-0 at the Vivian Richards Cricket Ground; and lead the two-match Test series 1-0, following a win at Kensington Oval.

“The camp is very confident but we never take anyone lightly. We beat them in Grenada in the One-Dayers, we followed up with the Twenty20 wins in Antigua and we won the first Test last week in Barbados so things are going the way we want it. We trained today as we normally do, which is very hard, and we will look to put together another good performance in the upcoming match later this week,” Radford said on Monday afternoon.

A career-best spell from Shane Shillingford bowled West Indies to a convincing nine-wicket victory over Zimbabwe on Wednesday. Shillingford captured 6-49 from 16 overs, ending the match with 9-107, as Zimbabwe were dismissed for 107 in their second innings about 20 minutes before lunch on the third day at the Kensington Oval. This left West Indies chase a modest 12 for their fifth straight Test victory for the first time in 25 years, which they duly completed about 10 minutes after a re-scheduled lunch interval.

Moments after bowling the West Indies to a huge victory over Zimbabwe, Shane Shillingford called it his “best performance ever” as he celebrated the nine-wicket win. He was well backed by Shannon Gabriel, who bowled with sustained pace and hostility to take 3-10 in his second Test match.

Shane Shillingford grabbed two late wickets to follow a whirlwind half-century from Darren Sammy to keep West Indies in charge of the first Test against Zimbabwe on Wednesday here. Shillingford took 2-9 from two overs, as Zimbabwe, trailing by 96 on first innings, reached 41 for three in their second innings at the close on the second day at Kensington Oval.

Earlier in the day, West Indies skipper Sammy hit a stroke-filled, top score of 73 to boost West Indies and propel them to 307, replying to Zimbabwe’s first innings total of 211. Sammy and keeper Denesh Ramdin batted the West Indies out of problems and into a position of strength as they added a crucial century stand on the second day of the first Test against Zimbabwe.

The pair put on a record 106 for the seventh wicket after the West Indies looked in trouble at 151-6, with the dismissals of Marlon Samuels (51) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (26) in the space of seven runs.

Sammy launched a brutal assault on the Zimbabwe bowlers, scoring 73 off 69 balls including four sixes and eight fours at the Kensington Oval on Wednesday. Ramdin celebrated his 28th birthday with a well-compiled 62 off 130 balls with eight boundaries in over three hours of batting.

It helped the home side to 307 all out in reply to 211 made by the visitors on the opening day. They will resume on 41-3 on Thursday – still 55 runs away from making the West Indies bat again. Off-spinner Shane Shillingford has so far taken two wickets in two overs while pacer Shannon Gabriel bowled with great pace and took the other.

Speaking about his approach during the day, the captain said his game-plan was to attack the Zimbabwe bowlers and reverse the pressure.

“I backed myself and I played my natural game. I play to my strengths. That partnership with Ramdin and myself really put us in a good position and set up the game nicely. I always look to do my best and deliver what the team requires,” Sammy added.

“Today for me it wasn’t about survival as I always back myself to play the proper shot. They gave me some loose balls and I put them away. That’s cricket – you respect the good balls and when you get the bad balls you put them away. It was a matter of [proper] execution. It was good to see that Denesh at Number 6 and myself scheduled to be at Number 7 were able to put on over 100 runs and put the team on the right track after we were five wickets down.”

Mini Scorecard:

Zimbabwe 1st Innings 211 all out

Tino Mawoyo 50 Marlon Samuels 4-13

Craig Ervine 29 Shane Shillingford 3-58

West Indies 1st Innings 307 all out

D Sammy 73 Kyle Jarvis 5-54

D Ramdin 62 Hamilton Masakadza 2-25

Zimbabwe 2nd Innings 41-3

Shane Shillingford 2-9

Off-spinners Marlon Samuels and Shane Shillingford celebrated their return to the West Indies side by combining to wreck Zimbabwe’s first innings batting in the first Test on Tuesday here. Samuels, in his first international match of the year since recovering from a serious eye injury, finished with career-best figures of 4-13, while Shillingford, recalled after nearly a year, claimed 3-58, as the Zimbabweans plunged to 211 all out on the opening day at Kensington Oval.

Kyle Jarvis then struck two blows late in the day, removing opener Kieran Powell for five and night-watchman Kemar Roach for a duck from successive deliveries to leave West Indies on 18 for two.