NZ v WI, 2nd Test, Day 1, Review: Late wickets shift momentum towards the visitors as Kiwis stumble

New Zealand and Windies locked horns for one final time in the second and final Test match of the series at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Saturday. The visitors were already rocked before the game as their regular skipper Jason Holder was suspended due to the slow over rate in the first Test. Kraigg Brathwaite was named the stand-in captain for him as Raymon Reifer made his international debut for Windies. The hosts also strengthened their bowling attack as Tim Southee slotted back in place of Matt Henry.

Brathwaite called it correctly when the coin was flipped in the morning and decided to make use of the wicket with the bowl in hand. The new ball was wasted though by his men as the openers Tom Latham and Jeet Raval nicely settled into their rhythm. Just when things were looking bleak for them, Miguel Cummins’ ploy of the short ball as the former could only glove it to the keeper. His partner, unflustered with short ball barrage, continued strongly and notched up a half-century.

Even Kane Williamson looked fluent in his stay as the duo scored more runs in the post-lunch session. The scoreboard for the hosts read 154/1 and the decision to bowl first was looking a dreaded one for the team from Caribbean island. Raval was looking good for a century and his skipper was solid as usual with his technique.

Stunning fightback from Windies

Windies Test team has time and again proved themselves this year that they do not go down easily without a fight. It was on display once again at Seddon Park as the second half of the day was owned by them completely. Cummins started things off with a key wicket of the opposition captain who edged the ball to Shane Dowrich behind the stumps. Soon Shannon Gabriel found his line and length as he bowled a peach of a delivery to dismiss the well set Raval on 84 at the stroke of tea time.

The wickets in the previous session gave the bowling side a new life as they bowled with purpose as reverse swing was on offer with the old ball. The first batsman to walk back after the resumption was Ross Taylor who was followed by Henry Nicholls which reduced the Kiwis to 189/5. Reifer scalped his first international wicket by pinning Nicholls in front of the stumps. But Mitchell Santner and the centurion of the last game Colin de Grandhomme counterattacked to lift some pressure off them.

The duo added 76 runs which would’ve evened the day out but the new ball worked wonders for Windies this time around. New Zealand lost Santner as he was castled by Gabriel who made the new cherry talk. Even the stumps of de Grandhomme were disturbed as the back of a length nipped back in sharply. Tom Blundell then made sure there were no more hiccups along with Neil Wagner to end the day on 286/7. The fall of wickets at the back end of the day tilted the day towards the visitors who would be pleased with their work after winning the toss.

New Zealand, on the other hand, would be feeling they gave away a strong position with the middle order not standing up to some disciplined bowling from their opposition. They would love to go beyond 350 on the second morning and pick early wickets of Windies with the new ball. Brathwaite and his men, however, would want to bat big on a wicket which has nothing in it and has flattened out considerably now.

Brief Scores:

New Zealand 286/7 (J Raval 84, de Grandhomme 58; S Gabriel 3/79, M Cummins 2/37)