West Indies v New Zealand - Third Test

Kensington Oval, Bridgetown, Barbados

West Indies: CG Greenidge, DL Haynes, RB Kanhai, IVA Richards, CH Lloyd, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, MD Marshall, MA Holding, CEL Ambrose, CA Walsh.
New Zealand: GM Turner, BA Edgar, AH Jones, MD Crowe, MP Donnelly, *JR Reid, +AC Parore, RJ Hadlee, RO Collinge, J Cowie, SL Boock.

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

The only way was up for New Zealand after their shocking display in Trinidad, and after three rain affected days at the Kensington Oval the tourists found themselves in a surprisingly dominant position, thanks in the main to three outstanding individual performances. Batting first on a pitch not expected to last the full five days, West Indies slumped to 201 all out, with Greenidge and Richards both departing for ducks and only a 94 run third wicket partnership between the consistent Haynes (64) and Lloyd (57) providing any sustained resistance. Hadlee and the recalled Cowie revelled in the damp conditions, sharing eight wickets between them, and when the tourists came to bat it was Andrew Jones who led the way with a splendid maiden ATG century.

Jones batted with great freedom, and at 191-2 New Zealand looked set for a sizeable first innings advantage. Jones finally fell for 121, fending a wicked Ambrose bouncer into the hands of Haynes at short leg, and from then on the Blackcaps sadly lost their way, eventually being dismissed for 282 as Marshall cleaned up the tail with the new ball. Jones' dominant display had still managed to give the tourists an 81 run lead though, and at its halfway point the game was following a remarkably similar pattern to the first Test. However, whereas West Indies went on to rattle up a second innings total in excess of 500 in that game, they staggered to 122-4 by the end of the third day here, having been 18-3 at one stage as Hadlee and Cowie again took centre stage. Richards completed an ignominious pair as he pulled his first ball from Cowie straight to Reid at midwicket, and it took a partnership of 102 between Lloyd and Kanhai to pull the hosts up by their bootstraps.

Kanhai fell for 44, but Lloyd went on to complete a glorious century on the fourth morning to drag West Indies back into contention. However, Lloyd played on to Reid the ball after reaching three figures and at 162-6 the lead was only 81, with another wicket set to expose the tail. Sobers and Dujon were the last pair of recognized batsmen, and with New Zealand seemingly on the verge of success, they set about forging a partnership to break Kiwi hearts. Both players made decidedly unsteady starts, Dujon especially, but gradually the strokes started to come more naturally and the scoreboard began ticking over at an ever increasing rate.

The pitch was by no means the easiest to bat on by now, but with Hadlee and Cowie clearly tiring New Zealand were badly let down by their supporting cast of bowlers, and the seventh wicket partnership progressed into the afternoon and swelled past the hundred mark. Sobers finally went for 63, bowled by a slower ball from Cowie having put on 114 with Dujon, who then proceeded to add a further 53 with Marshall (18) for the eighth wicket as the game ran away from the New Zealanders. Dujon was eventually out for a stroke-laden 86, but Ambrose and Walsh were able to rub a final pinch of salt into the wound with a last wicket stand of 31 before West Indies were finally bowled out late on the fourth evening for 360.

Despite everything that had transpired, New Zealand's target of 280 was certainly in the realm of the achievable, although a badly wearing pitch would surely make batting on the final day a most hazardous occupation. Edgar didn't even make it to the last day as he departed for a duck in just the second over, and with Jones and Crowe both out cheaply to poor lbw decisions from umpire Orchard on the fifth morning, New Zealand's challenge was wavering at 70-3. Turner looked in confident mood though, and in partnership with Donnelly he was able to construct a partnership that would take the tourists to the very brink of victory.

For once the West Indian pace attack misfired badly, and in the face of some very poor bowling Turner and Donnelly put on 143 wonderful runs for the third wicket, with Turner recording the sixth, and arguably most valuable, hundred of his career. With the tea break looming the scoreboard read 213-3, but with New Zealand just 67 runs away from the winning post, Sobers removed Donnelly for 60 and Reid for a golden duck with consecutive deliveries either side of the interval, and suddenly it was 'game on' again. Turner and Parore rallied though, and a partnership of 31 took the Blackcaps to within touching distance of glory at 244-5 before calamity struck. After six hours at the crease Turner, on 135, top-edged a cut off Marshall to Holding at third man, and an assured catch not only ended a fine innings but sparked a dramatic collapse that would snatch defeat from the jaws of victory for New Zealand.

Panic now seemed to paralyze the tourists, and the last five wickets fell for just six runs in twenty two balls as a rampant Marshall and Walsh saved the day for West Indies. Last hope Parore played a dreadful stroke to be caught in the covers for 23, and when Marshall trapped Collinge lbw to complete his five wicket haul, West Indies had triumphed by the slender margin of 29 runs and had clinched the series with two Tests still to play. Once again New Zealand had thrown away a glorious chance of victory, and the lack of self-belief that seems to permeate through the team was all too evident during those last, fateful overs. For the Kiwis, the only way remains up.

Scores
WI 1st Inns 201 (Haynes 64, Lloyd 57; Cowie 4-48, Hadlee 4-76)
NZL 1st Inns 282 (Jones 121; Marshall 4-53)
WI 2nd Inns 360 (Lloyd 102, Dujon 86, Sobers 63, Kanhai 44)
NZL 2nd Inns 250 (Turner 135, Donnelly 60; Marshall 5-72)

WEST INDIES WON BY 29 RUNS


Man of the Match: CH Lloyd