Tom Latham had to decide whether to use the new Basin Reserve conditions to deal an early blow to the West Indies or bat first and give his team a break after the exhausting Day 5 in Christchurch. Latham backed his repaired assault for another grind, but the unrevealing, brown-tinged surface revealed nothing.
The call was successful. The West Indies were dismissed for 205, but after Blair Tickner was stretchered off with a possible shoulder dislocation 67 overs into the match, New Zealand may have lost another bowler. The hosts, who had already lost Matt Henry and Nathan Smith in Christchurch, extended their miserable run of luck. Michael Rae, a rookie, contributed three wickets to Tickner’s impressive 4 for 32 total until his dismissal.
Given their early performance, the West Indies would have set far higher goals than they actually achieve. Tagenarine Chanderpaul was replaced by Brandon King, who scored five fours and a six in a quick 33 to lead John Campbell (44) to an opening stand of 66.
When Latham missed a difficult opportunity at second slip off Jacob Duffy, Campbell actually set the early pace and even earned a life. Then, in Rae’s opening over, King let loose and hit the rookie for a six and a four. After an hour, Latham’s toss choice appeared uncertain until Tickner completely changed the course of the game. In his next over, he struck again, pinning Kavem Hodge in front without a referral after nipping one back to trap King LBW by review.
Shai Hope, a centurion from Christchurch, reached the middle, but Campbell punched Rae for three boundaries to keep the scoreboard going. West Indies were in a strong position at 92 for 2 before lunchtime. However, shortly after the interval, Rae discovered a longer length from around the wicket, lured Campbell into a drive, and caught him at first slip. A solid 60 for the fourth wicket was then added by Hope and Roston Chase, but just as the partnership was starting to take shape, Tickner stepped in once more. He followed up a full ball with a quick bouncer that startled Hope, who fumbled awkwardly and fell for 48.
The gate opened as a result. After a strong start, the West Indies collapsed as New Zealand took the last seven wickets for just fifty-two. Chase sliced a nip-backer onto Tickner’s stumps for his fourth, but he missed a five-fer as he departed the field in the 67th over after getting hurt while diving at fine leg. West Indies were seven down at that point, added a bit more, and then folded for 205.
Despite some nervousness, New Zealand’s openers, Latham and Devon Conway, managed to score 24 runs in nine overs. Both left-handers were disturbed by Kemar Roach and Jayden Seales, but they made it through the test to maintain the lead into Day 2.
Brief scores: New Zealand 24/0 (Devon Conway 16*) trail West Indies 205 (Shai Hope 48, John Campbell 44; Blair Tickner 4-32, Michael Rae 3-67) by 181 runs.
