A gutsy 200-run partnership between Denesh Ramdin and Shivnarine Chanderpaul rescued the West Indies from a perilous position yesterday as the tourists battled to 289 for six on the first day of the third Test against New Zealand.
Ramdin was dismissed just before the close for 107 to end a sixth-wicket stand that lifted the score to respectability, after another Calypso collapse had seen the team slump to 86-5 soon after lunch.
Chanderpaul was not out 94 at the close, with Darren Sammy yet to score as the West Indies fight to win the Test in a bid to level the three-match series.
Photo: AFP
The tourists’ cause was helped by a wicket that offered the bowlers little in the morning before becoming totally unresponsive midway through the day, allowing the batsmen more time to place the ball, and the run rate lifted noticeably.
After just 142 runs were scored in the first two sessions, the post-tea session of play yielded a further 147 runs.
New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum won the toss and with hindsight he may regret his decision to bowl first, as rewards were hard to come by except for a brief period after lunch.
After the West Indies had progressed cautiously to 77-1, they collapsed to 86-5 in the space of 34 deliveries before Ramdin joined Chanderpaul to put them back on track.
Kraigg Brathwaite and Kieran Powell put on 41 for the first wicket before Powell, on 26, edged Neil Wagner to wicketkeeper B.J. Watling.
Brathwaite, promoted to play his first Test since 2011 when Darren Bravo was injured during practice, reached 45 before his dismissal soon after lunch started the top order’s collapse.
Kirk Edwards (six), Marlon Samuels (0) and Narsingh Deonarine (two) followed quickly and the West Indies were once again on the ropes, as they were in the first two Tests.
However, with no demons in the pitch, Chanderpaul and Ramdin were able to bat the West Indies out of trouble, making New Zealand pay for their dropped chances.
Ramdin had a let-off on 57 when Kane Williamson spilled a chance at midwicket, and another on 92 when Tim Southee dropped the ball at short cover point. His luck ran out when he was caught behind off Corey Anderson.
Anderson was the most successful of the New Zealand bowlers, with three for 25 off 14 overs.
New Zealand are playing the same team that won the second Test inside three days by an innings and 73 runs, while the West Indies made three changes.
Sunil Narine replaced spinner Shane Shillingford, who has been suspended for an illegal bowling action, Braithwaite came in for the injured Bravo and Veerasammy Permaul took the place of Shannon Gabriel.
The first Test of the series was drawn.
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
Harry Kane opened the scoring ahead of lifting his first career silverware as Bayern Munich beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 2-0, with veteran Thomas Mueller playing his last home game for the club. Bayern officially won the title on May 4 when defending champions Bayer Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw at Freiburg, but were presented with the Bundesliga shield in front of their home fans at full-time. Dripping wet after being showered with beer by teammates, Kane said the title win was “an incredible feeling,” and hoped it would be “the first of many.” “It’s been lot of hard work, a lot of
INTER AWAIT: Superb saves by PSG ’keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma inspired the victory, as Arsenal were punished for misses, including one by Bukayo Saka Arsenal on Wednesday fell short on the big stage again as their painful UEFA Champions League semi-final exit against Paris Saint-Germain left Mikel Arteta to rue his club’s failure to provide him with enough attacking options. Arteta’s side were unable to reach the Champions League final for the first time in 19 years as PSG clinched a tense 2-1 win at Parc des Princes. Trailing 1-0 from last week’s first leg in London, the Gunners made a blistering start to the second leg, but could not convert their chances as Gianluigi Donnarumma’s superb saves inspired PSG’s 3-1 aggregate victory. Arsenal were punished for
Taiwanese e-sports veteran Lin “ET” Chia-hung yesterday successfully defended his King of Fighters XV title at this year’s Evolution Championship Series: Japan (EVO Japan), securing his second consecutive championship. Lin claimed victory with a 3-1 win over Japanese pro gamer “mok” in the grand final, repeating his earlier 3-1 win against the same opponent in the winners’ final. The 40-year-old earned a ￥1 million (US$6,897) cash prize at the two-day tournament, which drew 294 competitors. Mok, Lin’s toughest rival in the bracket, took home ￥400,000 as runner-up. Lin remains undefeated in match sets against mok in King of Fighters XV, holding a 10-0 record,
RSS