Jacob Duffy stood out with ball in hand in the second innings as he picked up his 5-wicket haul to set up the win for New Zealand inside 3 days at Basin Reserve in Wellington. Jacob Duffy who was leading this attack with so many injured players stood up when it mattered as his spell ensured New Zealand completed the formalities in style with a 9-wicket win inside Tea on Day 3.
For West Indies, it was a case of what might have been. They had their chances but when they lost the initiative they suffered batting collapses and that turned out to be very costly for them in the end result. New Zealand had to work hard but found a way to win the key moments and go 1-0 up with one match to play in this series.
Blair Tickner’s 4-wicket haul restricts West Indies to 205 in 75 overs
West Indies were put into bat by New Zealand as their openers John Campbell and Brandon King walked out to bat. They started off well and off the blocks with both getting starts before the 66-run stand was ended with King departing for 33 off 56 balls to Tickner. Kavem Hodge came and went for a duck to Tickner which meant Shai Hope came out to bat next. Hope and Campbell built a good solid stand and looked good to take the West Indies innings forward.
Both players got starts but the problem was not going on with it. They played through Lunch and beyond that before Campbell fell for 44 off 87 balls to Michael Rae. Roston Chase came and joined Hope in the middle and built another solid stand. Hope was looking like a million dollars and looked good to get more than he did. He made 48 off 80 balls which turned out to be the top scorer of this innings. Hope fell for 48 to Tickner as West Indies were 4 down with Chase and Justin Greaves at the crease.
West Indies were decently placed at 175/4 at Tea on Day 1 when suddenly a collapse happened post Tea. Chase first fell for 29 off 69 balls to Tickner while Greaves fell soon after for 13 off 52 balls to Rae. Two wickets in quick succession meant the floodgates were open for the West Indies to suffer a collapse. Kemar Roach soon fell for a silver duck before Imlach after hanging in there for a while fell for 16 off 31 balls to Glenn Phillips. Soon, Anderson Phillip was run out and Ojay Shields fell to Jacob Duffy.
West Indies lost 6/30 after the Tea Break on Day 1 to lose the plot and be bowled out for 208 in 75 overs. 17 extras given by the fielding side. It was an excellent bowling display by New Zealand with Blair Tickner being the pick of the bowlers with 4/32 in 16 overs after which he dived on his shoulder and dislocated it and was ruled out for the remainder of the Test match as New Zealand were now a bowler short.
Debutant Michael Rae supported Tickner well with his 3/67 in 18 overs. Jacob Duffy finished with 1/33 in 19 overs while Glenn Phillips finished with 1/19 in 7 overs. Zak Foulkes finished wicketless in the first innings and finished with 0/41 in 15 overs. It was time for New Zealand to bat in their first innings.
Mitchell Hay & Devon Conway’s stylish half-centuries gave New Zealand a handy first innings lead
Tom Latham and Devon Conway came out to open for New Zealand while Kemar Roach had ball in hand for West Indies. The Kiwis got off to a steady start as the openers put on 36 for the first wicket before Latham fell to Roach for 11 off 42 balls. Kane Williamson came and joined Conway at the crease and the duo started to play fluently. Williamson was quick off the blocks while Conway played his natural game.
They played the ball to the merit and added 67 for the second wicket to lay the platform for the first innings before Williamson was cleaned up by Anderson Phillip for 37 off 46 balls. Rachin Ravindra came out to join Conway in the middle. Ravindra did not last long as he played a loose shot to be dismissed for 5 off 13 balls to Roach yet again. Conway then threw his wicket away for 60 off 108 balls as he was strangled down the leg side by Imlach as Greaves had his first wicket.
Daryl Mitchell and Mitchell Hay came to join forces together and started to forge a partnership. The debutant Hay was quickly off the blocks and played his natural game while Mitchell played second fiddle to him. The duo built a defining partnership that would make sure that New Zealand go on to take a first innings lead. Hay was oozing class while Mitchell was Mitchell himself. The duo frustrated the West Indies bowlers and put New Zealand ahead. They put on 72 for the 5th wicket before Mitchell fell for 25 off 52 balls caught down the leg side off Phillip.
Glenn Phillips came to the crease next. New Zealand were 200/5 at Tea on Day 2 from which they suffered a mini collapse if one can say in the final session of play. Hay completed his Maiden Test fifty and was looking good till he gave his wicket away for 61 off 93 balls with 9 fours and one six to his name. Zak Foulkes came out to bat next. Phillips then played a few more shots and so did Foulkes as they added 20 more runs before Phillips fell to a mistimed slog sweep to Roston Chase as Anderson Phillip took the catch at deep midwicket.
Jacob Duffy came out to bat as the tail wagged for New Zealand. Both him and Foulkes played their aggressive nature of game to add handy runs to the first innings lead. They added 24 runs before Duffy fell for 11 off 13 balls to Phillip. Michael Rae on debut came out to bat next and he too played his shots while Foulkes played a mature hand as well. 21 more runs were added before Rae was cleaned up by Jayden Seales for 13 off 11 balls. Foulkes remained unbeaten on 23 off 43 balls as New Zealand finished with 278/9 and with Blair Tickner unavailable to bat, they declared their innings. 14 extras given by the West Indies.
It was a decent effort by the West Indies with the ball. Anderson Phillip was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/70 in 13 overs. Kemar Roach finished with 2/43 in 16 overs. Jayden Seales finished with 1/72 in 17.4 overs. Ojay Shields finished with 1/50 in 14 overs. Justin Greaves finished with 1/28 in 12 overs. Roston Chase the captain finished with 1/9 in 2 overs. New Zealand had a first innings lead of 73 runs and it meant West Indies now had to come out to bat trailing by that number.
Jacob Duffy’s 5-wicket haul skittles West Indies out for 128 in 46.2 overs
John Campbell and Brandon King were back out to open for the West Indies late on Day 2 while Jacob Duffy had ball in hand for New Zealand. The West Indies openers got off to a steady start and added 24 runs to the score before John Campbell let one go and the ball hit the off-stump from Michael Rae. Night watchman Anderson Phillip came out to bat next and was prized out by Duffy for a bronze duck with good usage of DRS as well. Kavem Hodge came out to bat next.
West Indies resumed on Day 3 at 32/2 as King and Hodge batted through the first half hour unscathed before against the run of play King was run out for 22 off 47 balls by the combination of Bracewell and Hay. West Indies best batter Shai Hope came out to bat next and hit a boundary as well. But he was soon prized out by Rae caught and bowled for 5 off 3 balls. Captain Roston Chase came out to bat next.
Chase and Hodged added another 12 runs before the West Indies captain fell for 2 off 10 balls to Duffy to leave the visitors at 70/5 still trailing by 3 runs. Justin Greaves came out to join Hodge in the middle. The duo of Hodge and Greaves added 18 more runs before Hodge fell for 35 off 75 balls to Zak Foulkes. West Indies were 88/6 at this stage and went to Lunch at 98/6.
Greaves and Imlach hung in there and defied New Zealand as much as they could. But once Greaves fell after Lunch for 25 off 57 balls to Jacob Duffy to leave West Indies at 113/7, the end was near. Kemar Roach came out to bat now. Tevin Imlach soon fell as well for 5 off 39 balls to Jacob Duffy as the Windies were on a freefall. Jayden Seales came out to bat next.
Roach and Seales added 5 more runs to the score before Seales fell for a duck to Rae as he drove the ball away from the body to get the outside edge to the keeper. Ojay Shields came and played his shots as he got off the mark with a boundary and hit another boundary as well. But that was as much the resistance he could give as he fell for 9 off 4 balls as Jacob Duffy picked up his fifth wicket. Roach remained unbeaten on 5 off 8 balls as the West Indies were shot out for 128 in 46.2 overs. 6 extras given by the fielding side.
Jacob Duffy was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 5/38 in 17.2 overs. Michael Rae on debut bowled well for his 3/45 in 12 overs. Zak Foulkes picked up one wicket as he finished with 1/39 in 12 overs. Daryl Mitchell bowled 5 overs for 4 runs. This meant that the target for New Zealand was 56 runs to go 1-0 up in this 3-match series.
Devon Conway & Kane Williamson complete the formalities after Tom Latham dismissal
Chasing 56 for the win, captain Tom Latham and Devon Conway came out to bat for New Zealand while Kemar Roach had ball in hand for West Indies. The aim was to win the game quickly before Tea and that’s what they did. Conway was off the blocks quickly while Latham was circumspect in his stay. Conway hit boundaries at will while Latham did get a boundary but was content in playing the waiting game.
The duo added 26 runs in 7.1 overs before Latham was dismissed for 9 off 28 balls. Kane Williamson came out to bat next with about 30 needed for the win. Both Conway and Williamson pressed on the accelerator button. They hit shots along the ground as both the players were playing limited overs game now to finish it off.
Conway followed up his 60 in the first innings with his unbeaten 28 off 22 balls while Williamson played the winning shot and hit the winning runs as he was unbeaten on 16 off 12 balls as New Zealand reached the target in 10 overs before Tea Break. 4 extras were given by the fielding side.
For West Indies, 4 bowlers were used with Anderson Phillip finishing with 1/17 in 2 overs. Kemar Roach finished with 0/8 in 3 overs. Jayden Seales finished with 0/14 in 3 overs. Ojay Shields finished with 0/18 in 2 overs. So, New Zealand win by 9 wickets to take a 1-0 lead in 3-match series with one Test to go. Jacob Duffy was awarded the Player of the Match award.
What Lies Ahead
New Zealand are up 1-0 in 3-match series with one game to play after this dominant win. The next Test will be on 18th December, 2025 at the Bay Oval in Tauranga Mount Maunganui from 3:30 AM IST onwards. New Zealand will aim to win the series 2-0 with a win while the West Indies needs to inspire themselves to level the series 1-1.
It is the last Test of the summer and the final game of this long West Indies tour of New Zealand. Let’s see how things unfold when action resumes on Thursday.
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