New Zealand in West Indies 2014

First topic message reminder :

New Zealand's tour of West Indies comprising of 3 tests and 2 T-20Is is getting into the act today as the first test gets underway today.
The West Indies are going in with a new captain in Denesh Ramdin after Daren Sammy was sacked as captain following which he retired from test cricket. For New Zealand, they are slowly getting their act together in test after Brendon McCullum's captaincy first year was largely disappointing.
As far as the squads go, West Indies have recalled fast bowler Jerome Taylor after 4 years since he played a test. Taylor can form a pretty decent opening attack with a fit again Kemar Roach, and Jason Holder is added to the squad in case they need more seam bowling cover. Suliman Ben is also recalled to the test squad, and Shane Shillingford is making a comeback after a suspect action suspension. Sunil Narine is banned for the series after he decided to prioritise the IPL over West Indies cricket as he missed a deadline for a West Indies training camp. Chris Gayle, who is playing his 100th test, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels and Daren Bravo form the backborn of the batting unit. The other remaining positions have to be worked out between Kieran Powell, Kraigg Brathwaite and Kirk Edwards.
As for New Zealand, Peter Fulton and Hamish Rutherford who both struggled for consistency last season, face competition from Tom Latham for a top order position. But in Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor and skipper McCullum, they have a settled middle order to be backed up by wicketkeeper BJ Watling. Corey Anderson's injury before the first test is a setback and it is interesting to see who they would go in with at 6 for the first game. It could be Jimmy Neesham who scored a ton in his debut test, or it could be reserve wicketkeeper Luke Ronchi who has shown greater consistency with the bat in ODIs last year, or it could be Tom Latham down the order. The advantage with Neesham is that he can add to the depth of the bowling unit and is more of a like-for-like replacement for Anderson. . Daniel Vetori's test career seems to be finished as he yet again failed to regain fitness, and so Ish Sodhi will be leading the spin attack to be backed up by debutant Mark Craig. But Trent Boult and Tim Southee form a potent new ball attack to be backed by the ever persisting Neil Wagner.
It is not a high profile series, but it should be an interesting one with 2 closely matched sides fighting it out.

they are 7 down
can NZ avoid inings defeat ?
can they take the game into tomm ?
How fast in shanon Gabriel ?

NZ 212-8. Watling is still fighting on, but he's running out of partners.

KPF, Gabriel is sharpish. Can bowl in the early 140s. Between late 130s up to the mid 140s at times usually. Has had injuries though and his pace has been up down since then, but still fairly sharpish. Not your 128-133 type that we have a lot in India.

NZ 229-8. Craig and Watling are getting them closer to that target of 239 that would avoid an innings defeat.

West Indies are fluffing it big time here. The 9th wicket partnership between Watling and Craig approaching 100. NZ 303-8, leading by 64.

NZ 325-9, they are trying hard to stretch this game as far as possible. Watling still there.......

Watling does enjoy a good rearguard, doesn't he? Scored a ton at Wellington too.

If there is a country that can mess up this chase, its the men from the Caribbean.

ShankyCricket wrote:Watling does enjoy a good rearguard, doesn't he? Scored a ton at Wellington too.

He does indeed. When New Zealand came under attack from Dale Steyn and Vernon Philander in South Africa, Watlling again was the stand out. He did well against England and India in tricky situation. New Zealand's VVS perhaps?

Its not just been Watling and Craig who are in the way of the West Indies, rain gods aren't making it any easier. Rain has stopped now and we should have action soon. West Indies would be hping Southee and Boult would not create additional problems.

Memories of Dunedin all over again with a role reversal for the sides.

Rain back on, looks like the West Indies will have to continue to wait for that test win that has not been coming for almost a year.

Match restarts, and Chris Gayle starts with a boundary first ball.

Three sixes in an over! Gayle unleashing his IPL experience big time here. Quality innings under the circumstances.

That's the chase done and dusted, the West Indies win by 10 wickets, Christopher Gayle making short work of the target of 93, he remains not out with 80 of only 46.

Hope this is the start of a resurgence in his international form. Well done Chris Gayle! Thoroughly entertaining and sets up the series nicely.

Young Brathwaite showing good temperament ones again, he just went about doing his job, not trying to match the big man shot for shot. Kept his end safe and let Gayle do all the damage.

Shanky he had a half-century in the last test as well, a real battling affair that. Here he was determined that he would give the rain or NZ no chance. Terrific to watch. I like to watch Gayle in this mood in tests rather than limited overs......

CI says hard fought win for WI....I thought it was a COMPREHENSIVE win

Kraigg Brathwaite the Man of the Match. Very glad for him, hope he establishes himself as the bedrock of West Indies batting for many more years to come.

msp83 wrote:Shanky he had a half-century in the last test as well, a real battling affair that. Here he was determined that he would give the rain or NZ no chance. Terrific to watch. I like to watch Gayle in this mood in tests rather than limited overs......

I know but that was one of the most painful innings I've seen from him. I think Southee beat his outside edge at least 40 times (not exaggerating one bit). It was a battling fifty, a bit like a couple of Cook's half centuries in Australia last summer but you didn't really get the feeling that he was "back" and ready to explode. Today he batted like a man possessed and actually gave an impression that he can produce some fireworks in the upcoming matches. Here's hoping for more although I want NZ to win.

KP_fan wrote:CI says hard fought win for WI....I thought it was a COMPREHENSIVE win

They also had a headline along the lines of "England in tatters, Sri Lanka on top" when England lost the first 5 wickets cheaply in the 2nd innings even though they were over 250 ahead.. Those headline writers really have some ridiculously short memories.

msp83 wrote:Kraigg Brathwaite the Man of the Match. Very glad for him, hope he establishes himself as the bedrock of West Indies batting for many more years to come.

Thought Blackwood was very impressive too. Looks like a natural strokemaker. Very gifted and has a good FC record too on those substandard pitches. WI need to manage these guys well. They have talent.

Yeah Blackwood had a good beginning to his career. Lets see how he goes.

KP_fan wrote:CI says hard fought win for WI....I thought it was a COMPREHENSIVE win

Yes, I noticed that too....

Well, we got there in the end, but it's good to see so many good performances from individual players, and a sub-par performance from Shiv - in a Windies win!

The only player who's probably looking over his shoulder now is Kirk....

NZ bat first after winning toss....they dropped Sodhi...eventually...I was surprised why not in the previous game or the many games before that.

WI plucked out an opener quick and are playing 5 bowlers.....3+2 combo

and its for such a combination they should be playing either Dwayne bravo or Russell as the 5th bowler

seems like pitch has a lot of bounce

The West Indies bowlers have done well on day one yet again, but I am not sure about their lineup for this game. Must say I am disappointed at the dropping of young Jermaine Blackwood after a decent debut test. They are not playing an all-rounder, and Denesh Ramdin, despite significant improvement in the last couple of years, is not really a number 6 batsman. Hope the batsman take a lot of responsibility and score the runs without leaving the job to the bowlers.

That west Indies tail is one of the longest I've seen in a long time 

Jerome Taylor will presumably bat 7 with a test average of 15???!

Baffling

Olly wrote:That west Indies tail is one of the longest I've seen in a long time 

Jerome Taylor will presumably bat 7 with a test average of 15???!

Baffling

he has a test 100 against..and that too against Aus

KP_fan wrote:

Olly wrote:That west Indies tail is one of the longest I've seen in a long time 

Jerome Taylor will presumably bat 7 with a test average of 15???!

Baffling

he has a test 100 against..and that too against Aus

It was against NZ iirc?

Anyways he averages 15.72 in tests so I'm not too sure, is this Holder fella any better with the bat?

Neehsam's inning supported by spinner Craig took NZ to nearly 300 and that's probably par on the pitch that is reportedly offering a lot of bounce.


neesham's been tremendous for NZ....I was surprised when they initially kept Corey Anderson out to bring him in.....but he has been solid so far.....

Neesham did well, but a dozy run-out when him and Craig rather had WI on the backfoot (was an easy single, but they hesitated, Neesham might still have got there with a dive, but didn't) made it a good day for WI. The pitch is spinning and bouncing, so maybe a little surprised NZ have left out Sodhi, who bowled well in the second Test.

WI's tail looks very, very long. I'm not sure the five bowlers are necessary here TBH. NZ will say that if they can get WI 4 or 5 down, the rest could follow very quickly. Like msp, I'm a little disappointed they dropped Blackwood, who looked a decent player. Still, he'll get another chance.

Shillingford was poor I thought (admittedly I only watched the last session and a half or so), bowled a bit all over the place and looked short of rhythm.

Its the damn rain!. West Indies were 169-2 when it came poring down.
Another bright innings from young Kraigg Brathwaite who made a good looking 68, and that too at a pleasant surprise StrikeRate of 58. This has been the greatest improvement that Brathwaite has brought about in his game, he used to get stuck and go scoreless for long during his first spell in test cricket. Chris Gayle got his 3rd start of the series but was cut short on 42 as he hold out of Mark Craig. Kirk Edwards and Bravo at the crease when the rain came.
Have a feeling Jason Holder might get to bat ahead of Taylor at 7. Holder has a feeble First Class average of 15, but there are many who consider him as a potential bowling all-rounder in the making.

if they play 1 hour extra each day.....3 out of 5 lost hours may be recovered and a result still possible

We have a restart at last.

West Indies 200-3. Edwards and Chanderpaul at the crease. Bravo the man out today morning, caught by Williamson of Wagner, some innovative fields from McCullum playing a part in the wicket.

West Indies are still behind by 93. Another wicket here will open the way for NZ to Ramdin and the lower order.

Not long after surviving a New Zealand review, Kirk Edwards goes. Southee the successful bowler, a fine catch from Hamish Rutherford. West Indies in trouble at 205-4.

Massive wicket for New Zealand at the stroke of Lunch as Chanderpaul is strangled down the leg side of Wagner for 15. West Indies go to lunch at 240-5 with everything very much down to skipper Denesh Ramdin. New Zealand are still ahead by 53 in the first innings. They would be hoping to take a small first innings lead or at least limit the West Indies first innings lead to miniscule proportions.

West Indies into the lead. They are 301-7. Skipper Denesh Ramdin become yet another batsman who got in and got out. In the top 6, everyone got to double figures, Shivnarine Chanderpaul's 15 is the lowest score in there, but none has gone pass Kraigg Brathwaite's 68 at the top. Gayle made 42, Edwards 58, Bravo 24 and Ramdin made 45.
As I suggested, it indeed was young Jason Holder who came in at 7 and he's still batting, on 30 at the moment. But surprisingly, Jerome Taylor didn't come in at 8 or 9, it was Roach at 8 and Shane Shillingford at 9.

West Indies bowled out for 317. They have a first innings lead of 27. Considering they are 197-2, that is a disappointing one, and New Zealand will take that. Holder didn't have much impact with the ball in his debut test but he made an important contribution with the bat that gave his side the lead. Now he and the rest of the bowlers need to produce a big effort so that West Indies will have a manageable 4th innings chase.

Kane Williamson has scored his 2nd hundred of the series, that too in a high pressure situation to hold the New Zealand 2nd innings together. The top order other than Williamson failed after NZ gave up a 24 run first innings lead, but with support from Jimmy Neesham, Williamson has taken NZ to a good position. KW is not out on 108 as New Zealand have reached 243-5, leading by 219 at the moment. Neesham made a rapid 51 that included 4 6s. BJ Watling is giving company to Williamson at the moment. This is going to be a very, very difficult chase for the West Indies by the look of it........

New Zealand 305-6. BJ Watling the last man out, Kane Williamson still going strong, just 3 short of 150.
When he took Watling's wicket, Kemar Roach became the 19th West Indies bowler to reach 100 test wickets.

well WI needs to pick the remaining wickets with the next 20 odd runs and limit the chase to aboput 310ish

Inspite of rains there appears time in the game.....47 overs today and full day tomm.....

NZ does look in a slightly stronger position now

Don't think the WI will mind the rain too much. But New Zealand are clearly ahead now, and there is still a lot of time for a West Indies Collapso!.

Think I like this new Zealand side more than England atm

Fantastic test match

Great test, great series ebbing and flowing from one side to another and aggressive captaincy rewarded yet again! Well done New Zealand! Ain't I delighted?

Neesham continues to develop as a test cricketer, Latham looks a decent opener and after years of promise, the talented, teenage prodigy with a technique as sound as you'll get, Kane Williamson has really started delivering consistent, match winning innings. The best thing about this series win is that its been acheived without a significant contribution from Ross Taylor. Boult and Southee continue to forge a new ball partnership as good as any in world cricket ATM, and after being ignored for the first tests, Wagner once again underlined his worth as a third seamer. Watling too must surely be the second best wicketkeeper batsman in the world at the moment, after of course, AB De Villiers. Craig isn't a world beater but considering the quality of spinners around world cricket at the moment, NZ aren't lagging too far behind in that dept either. I'm not convinced by McCullum the Test batsman against decent bowling away from home but he is definitely the best captain in the world by some distance. Basically, another decent opener and they'd give top sides a real run for their money. Even now, you could argue for them being amongst top 4 or 5 teams in test cricket despite the rankings suggesting otherwise.

any one and every one beats WI these days...they do not care for test cricket.
But NZ's seam attack is a good one

Impressive performance from New Zealand ones again.
Who would bet that Alastair Cook or Mahendra Singh Dhoni would have declared with the overnight score?
Southee and Boult have emerged as a very fine new ball partnership. Williamson, Watling and Neesham showed with the bat. Craig didn't disgrace himself with ball, and was more than handy with the bat. Wagner is a very solid 3rd seamer. Young Tom Latham seems to be providing one half of a solution to a massive problem that New Zealand have had for many years, a solid test opener. Peter Fulton is not good enough, and Hamish Rutherford is not ready yet. New Zealand will have to look elsewhere for a capable partner for Latham. Since he's captain, Brendon McCullum has to play. He's not that good against decent quality bowing in test cricket, so perhaps he should open, play his shots and try to emerge as a Sehwag/Warner type opener. That would let them play Corey Anderson in the middle order, or may be even Jesse Ryder perhaps. If McCullum comes off ones in 4 attempts, I think it would be worth it, considering the added balance it would bring to the side and the effects of a rapid start in the overall scheme of things.