WELLINGTON, New Zealand, CMC – The West Indies’ batters wasted a perfect opportunity to stamp their authority in the second Test, as New Zealand’s replacement fast bowlers Blair Tickner and Michael Rae starred on the opening day of the second Test here on Wednesday.
The visitors were given a good start by openers John Campbell and Brandon King and seemed poised to put a good total on the board, until a middle order collapse saw them slump from 153 for three to 205 all out after tea at the Basin Reserve.
Tickner and Rae, playing because of injuries to fast bowlers Nathan Smith and Matt Henry, were the chief architects of the collapse, sharing seven wickets between them on a pitch that offered little support to the bowlers.
The home side then ended the day on 24 without loss, 181 runs behind the Windies’ first innings total heading into Thursday’s second day.
After their herculean effort in the fourth innings of the drawn first Test, West Indies captain Roston Chase called on his batsmen to put up a “decent total” in their first innings.
That seemed to be the case when Campbell and King, a late replacement for the injured Tagenarine Chanderpaul, were at the crease during a 66-run opening stand.
The duo was in cruise control during the opening hour, with the new ball pair of Jacob Duffy and Zak Foulkes causing little alarm.
After progressing to 41 without loss, Campbell was given a lifeline when skipper Tom Latham put down a difficult one-handed chance at second slip off the bowling of Duffy, as he tried to drive him through the onside.
King then greeted debutant Rae with two scintillating pulls, one of which sailed over midwicket for six, to bring up the 50-run partnership in the 14th over.
Tickner got the vital breakthrough when he trapped King lbw for 33, with the review showing the ball would have crashed into leg stump.
A nervous-looking Kavem Hodge faced eight deliveries without scoring, before he too was undone by an inswinger from Tickner that trapped him plumb in front to leave the score 66 for two.
The in-form Shai Hope got off the mark with an impeccable cover drive off Tickner that raced away to the boundary. In the ensuing over, Campbell crunched Rae for three boundaries through the offside, as West Indies went into the lunch break comfortably placed at 92 for two.
On resumption, Campbell failed to add to his 44, losing his wicket in the second over after the restart by driving loosely at a ball from Rae, only to be gobbled up at second slip by Daryl Mitchell to give the bowler his maiden Test wicket.
Hope and Chase then added 60 runs for the fourth wicket to see the West Indies progress to 153 for three, before a familiar collapse undid all of their hard work.
After drilling Tickner down the ground for four, Hope was undone by a short ball yet again, this time gloving a rising delivery to Kane Williamson in the slip corridor to be out for 48.
From their teatime position of 175 for four, Chase was bowled by an inside edge off Tickner for 29, while Rae accounted for the wickets of last game heroes Justin Greaves and Kemar Roach for 13 and a duck respectively, to see the visitors slide to 184 for seven.
Tevin Imlach was then bowled by spinner Glenn Phillips for 16, with the end coming soon after in a dramatic collapse that saw the Windies lose their last seven wickets for just 52 runs.
The only blemish for New Zealand came when Tickner had to be carted off the field after sustaining a shoulder injury while fielding at fine leg late in the innings.
He finished with figures of 4-32, while Rae claimed 3-67 in his debut.
New Zealand openers Latham and Devon Conway then navigated nine tricky overs, with Conway finishing the day unbeaten on 16 and Latham on seven.
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