March 17, 2006	Friday	Safar 16, 1427

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WELLINGTON, March 16: New Zealand and the West Indies go into the second cricket Test on Friday smarting from criticism that both sides seriously under-achieved in the tense first Test.

“Every area needs improving,” New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming said reflecting on a first match in which neither side exceeded 275 in an innings.

In that game the honours swung virtually every session, before New Zealand eventually won by 27 runs.

New Zealand need to win in Wellington to wrap up the three-match series and the West Indies must win to keep it alive, and Fleming believes he has the inside running.

“It’s a lot easier when you’re 1-0 up with a Test win. You can dissect areas that weren’t special and move forward in a positive vein instead of trying to worry about the fallout of a Test loss,” he said.

“In the leadership group meeting we addressed a lot of those areas, but now it’s up to individuals to prove they have made the changes.”

The West Indies boast a formidable batting line up with Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Bravo and Daren Ganga but they need more of them to fire at the same time.

The 148-run opening partnership by Gayle and Bravo in the second innings of the first Test potentially put the West Indies in a winning position, but Lara’s second consecutive first ball dismissal seemed to be the catalyst for the rest of the line-up to fold as well.

Lara returns to the ground where he scored his sole Test century against New Zealand.

Lara, who has only one century in 14 innings against New Zealand and is touring here for last time, scored 5 and 0 in first Test at Auckland.

Both West Indies and New Zealand hold the view that Lara will fire at some stage during the series and that his contribution will likely be crucial.

West Indies, desperate to keep series alive, hope moment will come in Wellington, a traditionally good batting track on which Lara scored 147 in the 1994-95 on this ground.

Both sides face selection problems because of injuries, with the West Indies perhaps worst hit after injuries ruled Ramnaresh Sarwan and Jerome Taylor while all-rounder Bravo has been unable to bowl since straining muscles in his left side in the opening match of the tour.

Sarwan’s place in Wellington is almost certain to go to Runako Morton, whose 110 in the last one-day international is the only century so far by a West Indies batsman on this tour, while Daren Powell would come in for Taylor.

Teams (from):

NEW ZEALAND: Jamie How, Hamish Marshall, Peter Fulton, Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Scott Styris, Brendon McCullum, James Franklin, Daniel Vettori, Kyle Mills, Jeetan Patel Shane Bond, Chris Martin.

WEST INDIES: Daren Ganga, Chris Gayle, Runako Morton, Brian Lara, Shivnarine Chanderpaul (captain), Dwayne Bravo, Dwayne Smith, Denesh Ramdin, Daren Powell, Ian Bradshaw, Rawl Lewis, Fidel Edwards, Jerome Taylor.

Umpires: Daryl Harper (Australia) and Mark Benson (England).

Match referee: Mike Procter (South Africa).—Agencies