West Indies were back to being their old self wilting under pressure as their batting in particular caved in and lost the Test match inside 3 days. New Zealand were not at their best and battling injuries, but played the key moments better and drove home the advantage to easily win in the end to take a 1-0 lead in the series. There were areas where West Indies were found wanting and lacked in those areas and we will list out three main reasons for their loss.
Batting collapses in both innings sealed their fate
The main reason why West Indies fell short in the game was their batting and batting collapses in both the innings. In the first innings, West Indies started decently after being put into bat first and did decently for the first two sessions taking the score to 175/4 with Shai Hope scoring 48 and John Campbell scoring 44 while Roston Chase and Justin Greaves got starts. But things turned after the Tea Break.
After Tea, West Indies suffered a massive collapse losing 6/30 and losing the plot and a bit of advantage they had. Some were through good balls and some batters gave their wickets away and suddenly 205 all out was a below par score. They should have gotten more. Then cut to the second innings, after West Indies bowled New Zealand and restricted them to 278 to keep the lead down to 73, the batting collapsed as a whole.
In the second innings, they lost wickets at regular intervals and never got partnerships going. They were 32/2 at close of Day 2 and then took the score to 50 when the third wicket fell and then were suddenly 70/5 and 88/6. Then a mini partnership was built before the 7th wicket fell at 113 and then the innings was done and dusted at 129. It was wickets losing in clusters in the second innings to lose the game in the end.
Going ahead, West Indies needs to pull up their socks in batting to compete against New Zealand who are losing bowlers but have enough skills and experience at home to beat West Indies. The visitors need to bat a lot better than what they dished out in second Test and maybe take inspiration from the second innings of the first Test where they batted so well.
Roston Chase’s underperformance as captain hurts West Indies
Captain Roston Chase’s performance came under the scanner as captain and more as player. One can say mainly with the bat in hand as bowling he had a limited role and still managed to pick up a wicket. This wicket was not conducive for spin bowling. But it is his performance with the bat that came under the scanner as he could not inspire the team to do well with the bat.
In the first innings, he got a start and got himself to 29 off 69 balls but then lost his wicket to Blair Tickner as a good 20 or 30 is not enough in Test cricket. Once one gets a start, you need to convert it into a hundred. But he failed to do so. In the second innings, Roston Chase came out to bat with West Indies being in real trouble and the captain needed to stand up and be counted. But he flattered to deceive and got out for 2 off 10 balls to Jacob Duffy. Yes, he may be batting too low down the order, but that’s his role and he needs to accept it.
Going forward in the final Test match, Chase needs to lead from the front and inspire his team and take the load of Shai Hope if West Indies are to level the series 1-1. West Indies have the skills, it’s all about mindset and it has to start from their leader Roston Chase. It’s not that he had a poor Test match, but it was average at best. We have to wait and see whether Chase can inspire his team to new heights.
Unstable Top Three & Overreliance on Shai Hope costs the West Indies
West Indies have an unstable and revolving top 3 which creates problem because it is at the top order where things get set. While John Campbell and Brandon King got starts in the first innings, they couldn’t kick on to significant scores. They scored 30s and 40s before getting out. Similarly, Kavem Hodge in the first innings was dismissed for a duck but he scored 35 in the second innings before getting out. These sort of scores from top order does not help.
Tagenarine Chanderpaul and Alick Athanaze played the first Test but were removed and so there is no stability in top 3 as they are also inconsistent. This in turn puts all the pressure on Shai Hope. He has to carry the burden of the team. In the first innings, he did well and scored 48 and guided West Indies but after he got out, the visitors collapsed. Then, in the second innings, he had a rare failure which can happen but then the West Indies collapsed and lost the plot.
The lower order was not expected to do much and the tail after Roach caved in which was expected to be honest. But for West Indies to do well and compete better, they need to start well and have a stable batting order. Too much chopping and changing does not help. What they will do at the Bay Oval remains to be seen in the top 3 in particular. We can expect changes there again.
What Lies Ahead
New Zealand are up 1-0 after this dominating win. The next Test takes place at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui in Tauranga on 18th December, Thursday at 3:30 AM IST onwards. We will have to wait and see whether West Indies has what it takes to come back in the series or whether New Zealand goes on and wins series 2-0. An interesting Test match awaits us all.
Also Read: NZ vs WI: Jacob Duffy’s 5-Wicket Haul Helps New Zealand Draw First Blood In Series