Fortune favored New Zealand, captain Kane Williamson said yesterday after they cleaned up the first Test against the West Indies by an innings and 67 runs on the fourth day in Wellington.
The West Indies collapsed spectacularly in their second innings to be all out for 319.
After a strong start, when they reached 231-2, they lost their final eight wickets for 88 runs as they chased a monumental 386 to make New Zealand bat again, but the real damage was done when Williamson won the toss and made the West Indies bat first on a green surface.
Photo: AFP
They were rolled for 134 and as the pitch flattened out New Zealand took charge with a monumental 520-9 declared.
“I thought in the first innings we were fairly fortunate, as well as bowling very well in exploiting the bounce in the surface,” Williamson said. “So we knew in the second innings, when the wicket became a little flatter, it was going to be a tough job to bowl them out. I thought the bowlers were exceptional to change their type of thought to play the long game, be patient with the way they operated, and we saw the rewards in the second session today.”
After resuming on 214-2, needing a further 172 runs to make New Zealand bat again, the West Indies innings unraveled when Kraigg Brathwaite went for 91.
If was the first of three wickets before lunch and the final five fell for just 33 runs in nine overs after the interval, but captain Jason Holder rejected suggestions they caved in, saying the plan was to play positively.
“We said there’s two days left in the game and we had to knock off the deficit, and the only way to do that was staying positive. I don’t think anyone was reckless at any stage,” Holder said. “Unfortunately, we lost Kraigg and we never gathered momentum afterwards. We lost the first Test match, obviously, but there’s a chance to put things right in the second Test.”
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