New Zealand v West Indies - Second Test

Lancaster Park, Christchurch

New Zealand: GM Turner, CS Dempster, GP Howarth, MD Crowe, MP Donnelly, *JR Reid, CL Cairns, RJ Hadlee, +IDS Smith, J Cowie, HJ Howarth.
West Indies: RC Fredericks, DL Haynes, RB Kanhai, EdeC Weekes, FMM Worrell, *GStA Sobers, +PJL Dujon, WW Hall, CC Griffith, J Garner, CA Walsh.

Debuts: Nil
Umpires: DL Orchard (SAF) & CJ Egar (AUS)
Toss: West Indies

Whilst West Indies fielded an unchanged XI in Christchurch following their victory in the first Test, New Zealand handed recalls to the brothers Howarth, Geoff coming in to replace the injured Jones and Hedley taking over the spinner's berth in place of the under-performing Boock. The pitch looked a beauty and Sobers duly batted upon winning his second toss in a row, but just as in Wellington the top of the batting card was reduced to rubble by Hadlee and Cowie, and by lunch the scoreboard read a parlous 64-4.

Worrell and Sobers came to the
rescue once again in the first innings

The visitors counter-attacked to devastating effect in the afternoon though as Worrell and Sobers picked up from where they had left off at the Basin Reserve. Sobers raised a wonderful hundred off just 128 balls, his fourth in six Tests this season, and Worrell reached three figures for the first time since his 216 against India in Ahmedabad way back in season III as the pair added 217 for the fifth wicket. Worrell did not have much time to celebrate his century though; after he completed the two runs to take him from 98 to one hundred he turned for a third only to be run out by Dempster's throw to Crowe at the bowler's end, and New Zealand had been handed a lifeline.

Crowe then trapped Sobers lbw without any further addition to the score, and when Hall went for 10 West Indies had slipped from 273-4 to 283-7, and the Kiwis would have been fancying their chances of finishing off the visitors for less than 300. However, the tourists' innings held a devastating sting in the tail; Dujon made a serene 70 and put on a national record 94 for the ninth wicket with Garner, who then continued to swing the bat to great effect in a last wicket stand of 75 with Walsh that exactly matched their effort against South Africa earlier this season.

Big Bird was on song with the bat as
West Indies' tail rallied on day two

Garner swung his way to an incredible 81, and the New Zealanders looked utterly deflated as they left the field, having allowed West Indies to add an unbelievable 214 runs for their last three wickets as the total swelled to 497. New Zealand's reply got off to a solid start as Turner - who was dropped on 39 by Hall off the bowling of Walsh - and Dempster posted 72 for the first wicket, but that was to be the highest partnership of the innings as wickets fell at regular intervals thereafter. Turner ground his way to a six hour century but on the whole the Kiwis found it difficult to score against a disciplined West Indies attack, and although both Reid and Smith finally perked up the crowd with some clean hitting later on, the hosts eventually fell an agonizing five runs short of saving the follow-on.

After a brief period of uncertainty Sobers asked New Zealand to bat again, but with the pitch still holding up well the Blackcaps made a much better fist of it on the fourth day. Turner (37) and Dempster added 92 for the first wicket this time round, and Dempster then hooked up with Crowe to the tune of 190 runs for the third wicket as New Zealand batted their way into the lead. Roy Fredericks popped up to bowl Crowe just two short of his century, but Dempster made no mistake and converted his first hundred into a big one, finally departing for 152 shortly before stumps on a day that had been dominated by New Zealand.

Dempster's maiden ATG century was a chanceless affair

A total of 336-4 gave New Zealand a lead of 132 going into the final day, and runs and wickets came rapidly as both sides tried to force the issue with some positive cricket. Reid's fighting fifty helped take the total total to a commendable 414, but West Indies were still in the box seat, and a target of 211 off 60 overs looked eminently gettable. A slow start hampered the chase though, and with two separate rain delays in the afternoon only serving to put West Indies further behind the clock, what had been another rollercoaster ride of a game was eventually consigned to a draw with West Indies still 72 runs short of their target. New Zealand will take more away from the result than their guests, and the series now remains alive going into the third and final Test in Auckland.

Score Summary
WI 1st Inns 497 (Sobers 113, Worrell 100, Garner 81, Dujon 70)
NZL 1st Inns 293 (Turner 102, Reid 46, Smith 41*)
NZL 2nd Inns 414 (Dempster 152, Crowe 98, Reid 52; Hall 4-102)
WI 2nd Inns 139-5

MATCH DRAWN

1st & 2nd innings scorecards (click to enlarge)

Close of play
Day 1 - West Indies 1st innings 304-7 (Dujon 4*, Griffith 13*; 90 ov)
Day 2 - New Zealand 1st innings 34-0 (Turner 20*, Dempster 14*; 14 ov)
Day 3 - New Zealand 2nd innings 13-0 (Turner 5*, Dempster 7*; 4 ov)
Day 4 - New Zealand 2nd innings 336-4 (Donnelly 25*, Reid 7*; 94 ov)
Day 5 - West Indies 2nd innings 139-5 (49 0v) - end of match

Notes
▪ Hadlee passed 200 career wickets
▪ Garner's 81 is the highest ever score by a number ten batsman
▪ Dujon and Garner's ninth wicket partnership of 94 is a West Indian record
▪ Garner and Walsh's tenth wicket partnership of 75 equals the national record

Man of the Match: CS Dempster