New Zealand celebrate after crushing the West Indies
Image courtesy of: Zimbio
New Zealand thrashed the West Indies by an innings and 67 runs on the fourth day in Wellington after the men from the Caribbean collapsed in spectacular fashion.
Starting off the day on 214/2, the West Indies added seven runs to their overnight score before opener Kraigg Brathwaite was trapped lbw off the bowling of Mitchell Santner for 91, which came off 221 balls and included eight boundaries and a six.
Brathwaite was not given out initially, but New Zealand opted to review the decision. This ended up working in their favour as replays showed the ball was pitching in line and going on to hit the stumps.
Shai Hope made 37 runs before he fell to Trent Boult, while Roston Chase was clean bowled by Matt Henry for 18.
From there things only got worse for the West Indies as they went from 273/5 to being bowled out for 319.
Henry was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Boult, Neil Wagner and Colin de Grandhomme snapped up two wickets apiece. As for Santner, he claimed one wicket.
West Indies captain Jason Holder was disappointed to have lost, and said: “We didn’t help ourselves with the way we batted, very indecisive with the way we batted. We knew what to expect, but just didn’t handle it. We got better as the game went on, some soft dismissals which didn’t help our cause. Just need to find ways to pick ourselves up.”
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was delighted to have taken a 1-0 lead in the series, and said: “A superb effort all around, a great Test wicket, pace and bounce for the seamers. Got a lot from that back of a length, not our plan, we tried to swing and seam it. We’ve seen West Indies through the last few series they have played, they’ve got better, so we’ll expect them to come back.”
Wagner was named Man of the Match, and said: “A tough graft, the wicket got better as the Test match went on. We bowled well in partnerships. Conditions were tough, a stiff breeze. We had to adapt our plans. Credit to their batsmen, when we got stuck into them again, they took it on, they are a quality team. We had to readjust our plans.”