West Indies' Christopher Gayle drives the ball down the wicket during day three of the second cricket Test against New Zealand in Wellington yesterday. Gayle scored 68 runs. - REUTERS
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (CMC):
BRIAN LARA'S miserable run of form continued on Sunday (Saturday night Caribbean time) as the West Indies faltered again to be facing the prospect of a heavy defeat heading into the fourth day of the second Test against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve.
Trailing on first innings by 180 runs, the tourists were uncomfortably placed at 118 for four when bad light and then light rain ended play 15 minutes after tea on the third day.
However, as much as the fans were enjoying the dominance of the Black Caps over a seemingly dispirited Caribbean outfit, they nevertheless hoped that the tourists' star batsman would have emerged from his slump to give them a sampling of his vintage form.
But in his final innings on a ground where he registered his only Test century against New Zealand 11 years ago, Lara failed to deliver, slicing a drive off Nathan Astle to Hamish Marshall at backward point to depart for just one, leaving the triple world record holder with a miserable tally of seven runs from four innings in the series.
His demise, which was greeted with a curious mixture of celebration and audible disappointment among the best crowd of the match, left the West Indies at 84 for three and in danger of capitulating before the end of the day.
But Chris Gayle stroked his way to 68 before falling just before tea to give the innings some respectability, while desperately out-of-sorts captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul hung on grimly with Dwayne Bravo as they watched the dark clouds closing in from the south.
GATHERING GLOOM
In the gathering gloom, it was inevitable that the umpires would have offered them the option of leaving the field, a reprieve they readily accepted.
Yet with fully two days left in the match, it seemed only a temporary respite before the home team completed a resounding victory to take an unbeatable 2-0 lead in the series and stay on course for a first-ever sweep of a three-match Test series against the West Indies heading into the final Test starting on Saturday at McLean Park in Napier.
A day that ended with almost certain defeat hanging low in the air had actually started encouragingly when Darren Powell removed Astle in the first over of the day, caught by wicketkeeper Denesh Ramdin without adding to his overnight 65.
However, the Jamaican pacer, who finished with four for 83, could not separate the ninth-wicket tandem of James Franklin and Kyle Mills, the pair looking far more accomplished than their positions at number nine and 10 in the batting order suggested.
They had put on 37 runs when Chanderpaul, who declined the option of taking the second new ball, turned to Fidel Edwards with almost immediate success.
The pocket dynamo of a fast bowler unsettled Mills with his raw pace, eventually inducing him to give Ramdin his fourth catch of the innings.
Chris Martin, as hopeless a tailender as could ever be found anywhere in contemporary international cricket, was then bowled first ball to end the innings at 372.
Edwards' double-strike earned him final figures of five for 65 - his fourth "handful" in a Test innings - and means he will be on a hat-trick with the first ball he bowls in the second innings, assuming that the West Indies at least get the remaining 62 runs to avoid the indignity of an innings defeat.
