West Indies captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul (left) and Brian Lara walk after their defeat to New Zealand in the first cricket Test in Auckland yesterday. - REUTERS
AUCKLAND, New Zealand (CMC):
DESPITE A bit of resistance, there was no miracle for the West Indies as New Zealand claimed the final two wickets in 35 minutes to win the first Test by 27 runs on a sunny final morning at Eden Park on Monday (yesterday evening Caribbean time).
Starting the day at 246 for eight and needing another 45 runs for what had seemed a straightforward win for much of the fourth afternoon, any lingering hopes that Ian Bradshaw would have been able to pilot his team to their first Test win away to a top-ranked nation for six years, ended when the left-hander prodded forward to left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori and gave a simple catch to Stephen Fleming at silly-point.
The Test debutant's dismissal for a patient 10 in 75 minutes was followed by a few bold strokes by the other overnight batsman, Jerome Taylor.
The Jamaican pacer, who is now unlikely to feature in the second Test in Wellington because of a hamstring injury that restricted him to just nine overs in the match, struck two boundaries in one over off Vettori to give his teammates huddled together at the front of the players' enclosure some hope.
Last man Fidel Edwards, who had spoken about his team's confidence in winning the match at the end of the third day, seemed equally determined, although he would have been run out at the non-striker's end had Hamish Marshall's throw from cover hit the stumps.
However, there were to be no more lingering anxieties for the home team as in the same over, Bond, still operating with the old ball, finally got a delivery to swing in to Taylor and he was bowled off the inside edge for 13, to leave the West Indies dejected and their few fans here and the millions back in the Caribbean in near disbelief that a team that had been 148 without loss could fold for 263.
Much had been made overnight about the change of ball after it was hit onto the roof of a stand by Chris Gayle yesterday afternoon when the West Indies were well set at 100 without loss.
REPLACEMENT BALL
Australian umpire Daryll Harper decided to increase the wear on the replacement ball by bouncing it on concrete and then rubbing it on the ground, tactics which are outlawed in the normal course of a match.
The New Zealanders were convinced that it made a difference to their bowling effort, although the state of the ball had nothing to do with the reckless shots by many in the West Indies top order, nor for star batsman Brian Lara being bowled first ball round his legs by Bond, his nemesis in this match.
The pacer's final figures of five for 69 off 27.3 overs represented his third five-wicket innings haul in Tests against the West Indies after a match-winning effort in Barbados and another handful of wickets in a high-scoring match in Grenada on the tour of the West Indies in 2002.
With match figures of seven for 128 and a critical role with the bat in the second innings, when his unbeaten 18 and a record ninth-wicket partnership of 62 with Brendon McCullum helped to resuscitate the New Zealanders, Bond was the obvious choice as Man of the Match.
The second Test begins on Friday (Thursday evening Caribbean time) at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.
SCOREBOARD
NEW ZEALAND 1st Innings 275
(S. Styris 103)
WEST INDIES 1st Innings 257
(R. Sarwan 62, D. Bravo 59)
NEW ZEALAND 2nd Innings 272
(+B. McCullum 74; C. Gayle 4-71)
WEST INDIES 2nd Innings (target: 291 runs)
(overnight 246 for 8)
I. Bradshaw cFleming b Vettori 10
J. Taylor b Bond 13
F. Edwards not out 2
Extras (b1, lb3, w1, nb5) 10
TOTAL (all out) 263
Fall of wickets: 1-148, 2-157, 3-182, 4-211, 5-216, 6-218, 7-221, 8-246, 9-247.
Bowling: Bond 27.3-7-69-5, Franklin 14-1-46-0, Martin 16-5-39-0, Vettori 35-11-92-3, Astle 10-4-13-2.
Result: New Zealand won by 27 runs.
New Zealand lead the three-Test series 1-0.
Umpires: D. Harper, R. Koertzen (TV Replays: A. Hill).
Match Referee: M. Procter.
Man-of-the-Match: Shane Bond (New Zealand).
