West Indies v New Zealand - Fourth Test

Bourda, Georgetown, Guyana

West Indies: CG Greenidge, DL Haynes, RB Kanhai, IVA Richards, CH Lloyd, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MD Marshall, MA Holding, LR Gibbs, CA Walsh.
New Zealand: GM Turner, B Sutcliffe, AH Jones, MD Crowe, MP Donnelly, *JR Reid, +AC Parore, RJ Hadlee, AR MacGibbon, J Cowie, SL Boock.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: AR Crafter (AUS) & DL Orchard (SAF)
Toss: West Indies

With the exception of the first Test in Jamaica, this series has been played on a succession of less than satisfactory wickets, and the quality, or lack of, of the pitch produced at the Bourda prompted Garry Sobers to insert the New Zealanders upon winning the toss. The trend in this series has been for a poor performance by the side batting first, and with the pitch offering up some very low bounce the tourists were bowled out before tea for 148 in just 43 overs, with Malcolm Marshall again the main destroyer. Turner (46) and Jones (28) had got the innings off to a good start after the recalled Sutcliffe's early departure, but from a relatively healthy position of 83-2, the Kiwis' innings folded once again, with only Reid's attacking 34 providing West Indies with any inconvenience.

However, by stumps West Indies had collapsed to 127-7 as 17 wickets fell on a remarkable first day. No-one was able to better Greenidge's 30 as Hadlee and Cowie once again spearheaded the New Zealand seam quartet, and it took a last wicket stand of 26 between Dujon (28) and Walsh (19* off 22 balls) on the second morning to nudge the hosts into a 19 run first innings lead. Turner and Sutcliffe wiped out the deficit by lunch, but a disastrous afternoon session saw the Kiwis slide from 39-0 to 103-7 as the wickets continued to tumble. Jones (13) and Crowe (22) were again victims of marginal umpiring calls, Tony Crafter the executioner-in-chief on this occasion, but Reid took the fight to the West Indians just as he had done in the first innings, and with MacGibbon able to bed in at the other end, 61 vital runs were added for the eighth wicket as New Zealand fought back. MacGibbon's share was just 9, but his stoicism allowed Reid to reach a well deserved fifty, and a further 29 runs were added with Boock (4) for the tenth wicket before New Zealand were finally bowled out for 197 early on the third morning, Reid finishing undefeated on 78.

With the game not even at its halfway point, West Indies now had a target of 179 for a 4-0 lead, but within seven overs they had slipped to 21-3 as Hadlee and Cowie again made full use of the new ball. Richards (2) played on to just his fourth ball from Hadlee to continue his wretched run, but Haynes again held firm with yet another fifty and West Indies looked on course for victory as the target dropped below 100. However, Hadlee returned after lunch to remove both Haynes (61) and Lloyd (26) in quick succession, and before the crowd had chance to draw breath Sobers was brilliantly run out for 4 by a direct hit from Crowe to reduce West Indies to 102-6, still 77 short of victory.

Rain now intervened to send the players in for an early tea, and when the evening session began all West Indies' hopes were pinned on the seemingly perennial Dujon to organize the tail and deny New Zealand once again. Malcolm Marshall proved a capable ally, and he contributed 17 to a 35 run partnership before Cowie got one through his defences to make the score 137-7, and Marshall trudged off with West Indies still 42 runs short with just three wickets left. Both Hadlee and Cowie were virtually out on their feet by this stage though, and Dujon and Holding were able to edge the score nearer and nearer to the target with a mixture of solid defence from Dujon and streaky hitting from Holding. As the runs required moved into single digits the game seemed over, but with six needed to win Holding (16) edged Reid to Donnelly at second slip and West Indies were eight down for 173.

Gibbs came to the wicket, took a single to keep the strike, and in the next over, bowled by MacGibbon, he nicked one through to Parore and suddenly West Indies were 175-9, still four runs away from victory, with last man Courtney Walsh striding to the wicket. It was pandemonium all around the Bourda at this stage, but the calmest man in the ground appeared to be Jeffrey Dujon, and after a lengthy conference with Walsh play restarted. Walsh survived the remainder of MacGibbon's over, but Reid forced Dujon to play out a maiden at the other end, giving MacGibbon another crack at the number eleven.

Determination was etched all over Walsh's face though, and a nudge off his pads for two pushed West Indies to within two runs of victory. Walsh held firm, and from the fourth ball of Reid's next over Dujon drove the ball through the covers to see West Indies home by the margin of one wicket, just the fourth such occurrence in ATG history. Dujon had batted two and a half hours for 39, an exceptional achievement in the circumstances, and the New Zealanders looked out for the count as thousands of ecstatic fans swarmed onto the ground. The series scoreline now read 4-0 to West Indies, but it could so easily have been 2-2, and the possibility of what would be an undeserved 5-0 whitewash now looms large after a remarkable three days in Georgetown.

Scores
NZL 1st Inns 148 (Turner 46; Marshall 4-41)
WI 1st Inns 167
NZL 2nd Inns 197 (Reid 78*)
WI 2nd Inns 179-9 (Haynes 61; Hadlee 4-72)

WEST INDIES WON BY 1 WICKET


Man of the Match: PJL Dujon