Zimbabwe win toss, bat first

Bridgetown - Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor won the toss and chose to bat first in the first Test against the West Indies at Kensington Oval in Barbados on Tuesday.

Seeking to extend their winning run in Test matches to five, the hosts omitted batsman Narsingh Deonarine and left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul from their final 11, opting for a bowling attack of three pacers and one specialist slow bowler in Shane Shillingford.

Playing their first Test match for almost 14 months, the visitors were forced to leave out opening bowler Chris Mpofu, who is troubled by a hip injury, his place being taken by Tendai Chatara.

Live scorecard

Teams:

West Indies:

Darren Sammy (captain), Chris Gayle, Kieran Powell, Darren Bravo, Marlon Samuels, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Denesh Ramdin, Shane Shillingford, Kemar Roach, Tino Best, Shannon Gabriel.

Zimbabwe:

Brendan Taylor (captain), Vusi Sibanda, Tino Mawoyo, Hamilton Masakadza, Craig Ervine, Malcolm Waller, Regis Chakabva, Tendai Chatara, Raymond Price, Kyle Jarvis, Graeme Cremer.

Umpires: Bruce Oxenford (AUS) and Ranmore Martinesz (SL)

TV Umpire: Tony Hill (NZ)

Match referee: Jeff Crowe (NZ)