HAMILTON: Paceman Shannon Gabriel overcame a poor start to take three wickets which tipped the balance of the second and final Test against New Zealand in favour of the West Indies after the first day on Saturday.

The initiative in the match passed from one team to the other until Gabriel made his mark with the second new ball to leave New Zealand 286-7 at stumps.

For most of the day, New Zealand held the upper hand. Opener Jeet Raval made 84 in partnerships of 65 for the first wicket with Tom Latham (22) and 89 for the second wicket with Kane Williamson (43) which lifted New Zealand to 154-1 after they had been sent in on a greenish pitch at Seddon Park.

Gabriel took the new ball and conceded 22 runs from his first two overs which allowed New Zealand to take the initiative early on.

But the West Indies turned the tide of the match when they took four wickets for 35 runs on either side of tea, removing Williamson, Raval, Ross Taylor (16) and Henry Nicholls (13) to reduce the home side to 189-5.

All-rounder Colin de Grandhomme then wrested back the initiative for New Zealand with a half-century from 50 balls in a 66-run partnership for the sixth wicket with Mitchell Santner which lifted New Zealand to 265-5.

Gabriel bowled both Santner (24) and de Grandhomme (57) with the second new ball and that again turned the tide of the match in the West Indies’ favor.

At stumps wicket-keeper Tom Blundell, a century-maker on debut in the first Test at Wellington, was 12 not out and Neil Wagner was 1 not out.

Raval’s innings, which saw him fall four runs short of his highest score in Tests, was crucial to New Zealand establishing themselves after being sent in to bat by the West Indies’ stand-in captain Kraigg Brathwaite.

Brathwaite took over the captaincy from Jason Holder who is suspended for one match for his team’s slow over rate in the first Test at the Basin Reserve.

After Raval’s strong start, Brathwaite would have regretted his decision to bowl first on a pitch which didn’t provided as much assistance to the bowlers as its appearance suggested.

It was only late in the day, when the pitch had been hardened by warm temperatures, that the West Indies bowlers and Gabriel especially began to find some pace and movement.

Gabriel claimed Raval’s wicket, again denying him his first Test century after six half-centuries in his nine Tests to date.

By bowling both de Grandhomme, who made a maiden Test century from 71 balls in the first Test, and Santner, Gabriel allowed Brathwaite to reflect at stumps that his decision to bowl had not been misplaced.

New Zealand were happy with their position despite losing the late wickets.

“I thought it was a very strong day to be put in to put into bat after losing the toss,” Raval said. “I think the game is evenly balance at the moment and if we can eke out a few more runs tomorrow [Sunday] morning it certainly gives us the advantage when we go in to bowl. It was a fresh wicket and the bowlers missed a couple of times and we were able to capitalize.”

Raval, however, was disappointed to have again been denied a test century when it had seemed so close.

“I felt good out there and it was frustrating not to see out the day out the day and bat again tomorrow to put a big score on the board,” he said. “But I’ll take confidence from this and take it into next innings.”

Left-handed all-rounder Raymon Reifer made his debut in place of Holder, while swing bowler Tim Southee returns from paternity leave to replace Matt Henry.

New Zealand won the first Test by an innings and 67 runs to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings):

J.A. Raval c Dowrich b Gabriel 84

T. Latham c Dowrich b Cummins 22

K. Williamson c Dowrich b Cummins 43

L.R.P.L. Taylor c Dowrich b Roach 16

H.M. Nicholls lbw b Reifer 13

M.J. Santner b Gabriel 24

C. de Grandhomme b Gabriel 58

T.A. Blundell not out 12

N. Wagner not out 1

EXTRAS (W-3, NB-10) 13

TOTAL (for seven wkts, 87 overs) 286

FALL OF WKTS: 1-65, 2-154, 3-159, 4-186, 5-189, 6-265, 7-275.

TO BAT: T. Southee, T. Boult

BOWLING (to-date): Gabriel

19-3-79-3 (5nb, 1w); Roach 19-7-45-1 (1nb); Cummins 17-4-37-2 (4nb, 2w); Chase 12-1-78-0; Reifer 17-8-36-1; Brathwaite 3-0-11-0.

WEST INDIES: K.C. Brathwaite, K.O.A. Powell, S.O. Hetmyer, S.D. Hope, R.L. Chase, S.W. Ambris, S.O. Dowrich, R.A. Reifer, K.A.J. Roach, M.L. Cummins, S.T. Gabriel.

UMPIRES: B.N.J. Oxenford (Australia) and R.J. Tucker (Australia).

TV UMPIRE: I.J. Gould (England).

MATCH REFEREE: B.C. Broad (England).

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2017