West Indies show some
Tourists produce much-improved second innings as New Zealand toil in the field
So much for talk of a New Zealand walkover; a fourth day of possibilities lies ahead at the Basin Reserve after the West Indies batsmen found the starch that had been missing on day one.
That 134 first innings effort put them on the back foot from the off but there was commendable spirit about their second innings display, albeit on a more comfortable surface.
They start the penultimate day today at 214 for two, trailing by 172 and with the odds still solidly loaded in New Zealand’s favour.
But what the West Indies have done is show there is more to them than that first limp batting effort.
They may not save this test, but at least pride kicked in yesterday.
If the first day was demoralising, there is a strong desire to make amends.
Opener Kraigg Brathwaite was a rock, completing his 15th test 50 and sitting 21 shy of a seventh hundred. He has the gifted Shai Hope with him, on 21. Add in a richly entertaining 66 from 20-year-old Shimron Hetmyer, and New Zealand had to work for their wickets.
Matt Henry was the only one with anything to show for two sessions of work. Neil Wagner, the first innings warrior with seven for 39, took a flogging, and finished with 89 taken off 15 overs.
On that, let’s just say the Windies aren’t exactly shrinking violets when it comes to taking on the short ball.
Wagner clunked both Kieran Powell and Hetmyer on the helmet in successive overs, that after Powell had swung him high on to the terrace at mid wicket.
A hunch here, but you suspect the world will be seeing a lot more of Hetmyer in the next few years.
His shotmaking is exhilarating, the best yesterday when he eased Trent Boult back over his head for six, but he’ll take any opportunity to pull the trigger.
“When I am batting I don’t think that I score that fast. I just bat until a bad ball is presented to me,” he said with unchallengable logic.
New Zealand had their chances, balls falling frustratingly short, or wide, of outstretched hands.
It was a day for some unusual field settings but the West Indies deserved