Tony Becca, Contributing Editor
Christopher Gayle ... needs to find top form in the final Test against New Zealand in Napier today. - REUTERS
THE THIRD and final Test match between the West Indies and New Zealand gets under way in Napier this afternoon (Jamaica time) with the visitors in familiar territory.
Two down after losing the first two matches - one by 27 runs and one by 10 wickets - the West Indies find themselves not only hunting their first victory in their past three series against New Zealand, not only trying to break the string of eight successive losses in Test matches, but also fighting to prevent the embarrassment of a whitewash.
For the West Indies, however, this is nothing new, at least not in recent times.
After suffering a shutout only once before - way back in 1928 when they lost their first series 3-0 to England in England - the West Indies have failed to even draw one match in eight of their series away from home over the past nine years.
Based on their performances so far in New Zealand, after losing the series, after losing every away series since 1995 (but for those against bottom-placed Zimbabwe and Bangladesh), they appear heading for whitewash number nine since Pakistan, winning by an innings and 19 runs, by an innings and 29 runs and by 10 wickets, nailed them 3-0 in 1997.
With fast bowler Shane Bond back in the line-up after missing the second Test, New Zealand are back to full strength and, despite the presence of bowlers the quality of Bond and left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori, batsmen like Stephen Fleming and Nathan Astle, and the blessing of one of, if not the, best fielding teams in the world, they are not a great team.
Although they are nowhere as strong as Australia and the score should have been 1-1 instead of 2-0, they must be favourites to win the match.
INSPIRED WINDIES
Although they were soundly beaten in the second Test, the West Indies enjoyed some good moments in the first Test and, after hopping to 148 without loss chasing 291 for victory, they should have won it and they must still be kicking themselves for not triumphing.
As disappointing as that defeat was, however, the memory of how close they went to winning may inspire the West Indies and that is why, despite their record of recent times, despite their record away from home, and despite that unforgettable collapse, they have a chance of winning or drawing the third Test and preventing the embarrassment of another whitewash.
There is, however, another reason why the West Indies can, with a little luck, win or draw the Test match.
Apart from the eight times they have been shut out, the West Indies faced a whitewash on two other occasions and each time they rose to the occasion and beat back the opposition.
Once was in 2003 when they went to the Antigua Recreation Ground trailing Australia 3-0 and won the fourth and last Test match with Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan scoring centuries.
The other was in 2004 when they went back to the ARG trailing England 3-0 and drew the fourth and last Test match with Brian Lara scoring a world record 400 not out.
On top of that, this is the last Test of the series and the West Indies and some of their batsmen, including Lara and Chris Gayle who last year scored 317 against South Africa in the last Test match at the ARG, have sometime, for whatever reason, come good at this stage of a series.
