New Zealand v West Indies - Third Test

Eden Park, Auckland

New Zealand: GM Turner, CS Dempster, GP Howarth, MD Crowe, MP Donnelly, *JR Reid, RJ Hadlee, +IDS Smith, JG Bracewell, 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: CJ Egar (AUS) & LP Rowan (AUS)
Toss: West Indies

Sobers wins the toss, elects to bat and then rescues the innings in partnership with Frank Worrell after the top order all fail. That has been the recurring theme thus far in the series, and so it was again in Auckland as an inspired Richard Hadlee reduced West Indies to 32-3 on a damp first morning at Eden Park. Weekes was then forced to retire hurt having deflected a rising delivery from Hadlee into the side of his head, and with ball seaming around one wondered whether the decision to field two spinners was the right move on the part of the Kiwi selectors, John Bracewell having been chosen to replace hamstring victim Chris Cairns.

Frank Worrell has become New Zealand's
nemesis over the course of this series

As the sun broke through batting became easier, allowing Worrell to add 118 for the fourth wicket with Sobers and a further 109 for the fifth with Dujon as the tourists spent the rest of day one recovering and consolidating. Sobers and Dujon both made fifties but Worrell pressed on to reach his second century of the series before the close, although he was granted a reprieve on 75 when Hadlee ripped out his off stump only to see umpire Col Egar signalling no ball to the scorers. As it was, Worrell went on to reach 131 before Hadlee finally had him caught in the gully by Reid on the second morning, one of eight wickets for New Zealand's champion fast bowler in what was by far the best performance of his ATG career, but West Indies' final total of 362 gave them the upper hand on a pitch that did not look as though it would last the full five days.

That said, Turner and Crowe made batting look easy after coming together at 48-2 in New Zealand's reply, and by the close they had extended the score to 164-2 as the hosts enjoyed an excellent second day. Walsh finally broke the partnership on the third morning when he trapped Crowe plumb in front for 85, and with the ball moving about in hot and humid conditions the innings fell away thereafter; Turner went for 86, popping up a return catch to Sobers to end his five hour stay at the crease, and with Walsh going on to complete West Indies' first five wicket haul of the series, the innings eventually closed on 295 to hand the visitors a 67 run lead.

Glenn Turner has been by far New Zealand's
most consistent batsman of the series

New Zealand struck back immediately as Hadlee found Fredericks' edge to send him on his way for a third ball duck, but with Kanhai managing to bring up his first fifty of the series the score had moved on to 130-3 by stumps, giving West Indies a lead of 197 with power to add. Cowie removed Kanhai's leg stump with just the fourth ball of day four though, and despite yet another fifty from the metronomic Worrell, wickets fell regularly throughout the day as batting became progressively more difficult. Hadlee claimed four more scalps to finish with match figures of 12-139, the best in New Zealand's history, and a total of 231 presented New Zealand with a target of 299 to square the series.

Uneven bounce was now proving to be a problem for the batsmen though, and in a disastrous evening session the Blackcaps were quickly reduced to 60-5 as only Stewie Dempster provided any resistance to an unremitting West Indian pace barrage. He eventually went for 40, bowled by the increasingly unplayable Garner, and although Donnelly and Hadlee managed to survive until stumps, at 103-5 the outlook was bleak for New Zealand. Donnelly managed to raise a spirited fifty on the final morning, and with Smith looking in good touch after replacing Hadlee at 128-6, the more Panglossian Kiwi fans began to sense that victory was not out of the question. Sobers shattered the dream though by holding onto his second caught and bowled of the game to dismiss Smith for 26, and the last four wickets proceeded to tumble for just eight runs as West Indies completed a comfortable 117 run win in the first over after lunch. New Zealand had run out of steam once again, and one must feel sympathy toward Richard Hadlee, whose sterling work with the ball was ultimately trumped by Worrell's unwavering form with the bat.

Hadlee's efforts were in vain as West Indies proved too strong once again

Score Summary
WI 1st Inns 362 (Worrell 131, Sobers 67, Dujon 59; Hadlee 8-73)
NZL 1st Inns 295 (Turner 86, Crowe 85; Walsh 5-49)
WI 2nd Inns 231 (Kanhai 59, Worrell 57; Hadlee 4-66)
NZL 2nd Inns 181 (Donnelly 66, Dempster 40; Garner 4-37)

WEST INDIES WON BY 117 RUNS

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

Close of play
Day 1 - West Indies 1st innings 282-6 (Worrell 107*; 90.5 ov)
Day 2 - New Zealand 1st innings 164-2 (Turner 60*, Crowe 77*; 49 ov)
Day 3 - West Indies 2nd innings 130-3 (Kanhai 59*, Worrell 16*; 45 ov)
Day 4 - New Zealand 2nd innings 103-5 (Donnelly 25*, Hadlee 16*; 35 ov)
Day 5 - New Zealand 2nd innings 181 (61 ov) - end of match

Notes
▪ Hadlee's innings analysis of 8-73 is the second best for New Zealand and the sixth best overall, and his match return of 12-139 is the best ever for New Zealand
▪ Dujon became the first wicket keeper to pass 3000 career runs
▪ Turner made his 50th appearance for New Zealand

Man of the Match: FMM Worrell