Tim Southee and the debutant offspinner Mark Craig took four wickets each to skittle West Indies for 262 and secure New Zealand a first-innings lead of 246

The Report by George Binoy10-Jun-2014
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsMark Craig struck twice in an over and finished with 4 for 91 on Test debut•Associated PressThe pitch at Sabina Park did not behave too differently on the third day. The pace, turn and bounce on offer was not significantly more than when New Zealand had batted in their first innings. The West Indian batsmen were woeful, and Tim Southee and debutant offspinner Mark Craig exploited their loose techniques and lazy footwork to secure a 246-run lead. Brendon McCullum, however, chose to bat again and set the home side a large target on a surface that could deteriorate on the fourth and fifth days.New Zealand inflicted the worst of the damage in two overs, on either side of lunch. Craig struck twice in three balls to raze the foundation built by a watchful opening partnership, and Southee also took two in three deliveries – ending Chris Gayle’s half-century – to reduce West Indies to 104 for 5 in the second session. It was left to Shivnarine Chanderpaul to whittle at the inevitable deficit and he played his shots, and gave the tailenders opportunities to play theirs too. That approach brought West Indies some boundaries, but it also brought New Zealand wickets, and Chanderpaul was stranded on 84 when Southee ended the innings with the second new-ball to finish with figures of 16.2-9-19-4.The visitors’ second innings got off to a poor start when Peter Fulton nicked an outswinger from Jerome Taylor to depart for a duck, his second failure of the Test. Run scoring was slow once again, as Taylor and Kemar Roach bowled accurate spells, moving the new ball at pace. Kane Williamson thought he had off stump covered when he shouldered arms to a Roach delivery, but he did not. He had been bowled not offering a shot in the first innings too, to Sulieman Benn. New Zealand were 7 for 2, and though the day’s last half hour might not have indicated it -nightwatchman Ish Sodhi and Tom Latham were battling for survival – they were well ahead in the Test.At the crux of New Zealand’s dominance was Southee, who bowled a faultless opening spell in which he sent down 29 dots out of 30 balls to Gayle. Most of those deliveries pitched around off, on a length that had Gayle prodding from his crease without moving his feet, and several angled across the left-hander to beat the bat. Gayle was fortunate to edge only one, and that did not carry to the cordon. To his credit, he did not play too far away from his body, and after 4.5 overs of dots from Southee, Gayle got a full and straight ball that he clipped off his pads for a single.McCullum soon brought on his spinners in tandem. Craig got the ball to spin and bounce away from the left-handers and bowled 15 dots at Gayle, beating him on the cross-bat swipe a couple of times before getting pulled for four. Sodhi’s lengths were erratic; Gayle cut hard when it was short and drove straight when the bowler overcompensated.The slump began after West Indies had reached 60. Powell prodded forward against Craig but played the wrong line, anticipating turn away from him. The ball slid on and hit him plumb in front. Two deliveries later, Kirk Edwards poked tentatively off the back foot and edged an offbreak to first slip. In the next over, Darren Bravo chipped a half-volley straight back to Sodhi. West Indies had slipped to 61 for 3 in 11 balls.Gayle immediately launched his offensive. He swept and cut Craig, got a firm leading edge off Sodhi that went along the ground to the straight boundary, and punched Boult uppishly through cover to reach his half-century.Southee had better luck after lunch. All morning he had gone past Gayle’s outside edge, and early in the second session he produced a delivery identical to many he had previously beaten the batsman with. This time Gayle nicked it, and his first dig in his 100th Test ended on 64. Southee then produced a big inswinger that Marlon Samuels was hopelessly late on to be lbw for a two-ball duck.Chanderpaul’s unorthodox technique worked for him on this surface and he initially attacked the spinners with slog-sweeps and lofts over the leg side. Denesh Ramdin cut and swept, and wasn’t shy to drive despite the ball not coming on to the bat. They had put on a partnership of 72, repairing some of the damage, when Southee gave New Zealand more joy in the final over before tea by strangling Ramdin down the legside with a slower ball. West Indies were 133 away from making New Zealand bat again, and Chanderpaul only had the tail for company.Chanderpaul was watchful against Southee, but scored freely against the other bowlers. He picked off Craig and Sodhi square of the wicket when their lengths were short, and very few of his runs came between mid-on and mid-off. He did not farm strike, though, and the tailenders attacked and perished. When McCullum took the second new ball as soon as it was available, Chanderpaul hit Boult for three fours in an over, and gave Southee a crack at Shane Shillingford. That contest lasted only two balls.