Radford invokes Leeds memories as Windies face daunting task

tying 17th Test hundred – 107 not out – and captain Kane Williamson got 54, as the Black Caps declared on 291 for eight.

With 40 minutes left to navigate in the final session, the Windies lost Kieran Powell (0) and Shimron Hetmyer (15) to find themselves needing miracle to evade defeat.

“We would have liked to go in tonight with no wickets down. Obviously it’s going to be a stiff task,” Radford admitted.

“It’s about individual performances, It’s their last opportunity in Test match cricket for a good number of months now. So I’m sure they’ll really want to finish the year with a personal milestone or go out on a bang, as well as a team effort.”

West Indies hold the world record for the highest run chase, overhauling 418 in Antigua 14 years ago. The record on New Zealand soil is 348, set by West Indies at Eden Park nearly half a century ago.

Though acknowledging the massive task, Radford said the Windies would not be simply hoping to survive.

“I think it’ll be ‘play hour by hour and session by session’, and break it down into manageable bits,” he explained.

“But [you] also still [want] be positive. You don’t just want to be batting to survive, you’ve still got to put bad balls away and still look positive at the crease and move positively.”