ST GEORGE’S (Grenada), July 3: An impressive debut by all-rounder Scott Styris and intermittent rain helped New Zealand to a series-winning draw on the final day of the second Test against West Indies on Tuesday.

One week after clinching a first Test victory in the Caribbean in the series opener, the tourists were edging stubbornly to a second innings score of 256 for five when rain interrupted play for the final time.

Rain had intervened twice before tea and, with Styris unbeaten on 69 and Robbie Hart not out 28, the match was abandoned as draw.

New Zealand had preserved their 1-0 series lead after winning last week’s first Test in Barbados by 204 runs.

Dogged batting by Styris provided the turning point on Tuesday after New Zealand had been struggling to get to grips with the West Indies spinners.

The tourists had slipped to shaky 157 for five before lunch, at which point Styris and Hart came together to forge a resolute partnership of 99 runs for the unbroken sixth wicket.

The match-turning role was fitting reward for Styris, who scored a memorable 107 in the first innings on his debut Saturday.

Previously regarded as a specialist one-day player, the all-rounder responded with a blend of rock-solid defence and flowing attacking strokes to underline his test credentials.

He became only the third New Zealand player to score a century and a fifty on his Test debut, after Rodney Redmond against Pakistan in 1972 and Lou Vincent against Australia in December 2001.

“I’d give that 10 out of 10 for any Test, let alone a debut. That far outweighed my expectations but I felt confident,” said Styris.

New Zealand had made their safety-first policy clear from the outset of their second innings on Monday.

A three-wicket burst by the West Indies spinners removed Mark Richardson (71), Nathan Astle (0) and Chris Harris (17) to give the West Indies a chink of light at 157 for three.

Richardson, who scored 95 in the first innings, was caught behind by Ridley Jacobs off Carl Hooper’s off-spin and Astle edged a Mahendra Nagamootoo delivery to short leg where Wavell Hinds eventually completed a juggling catch.

Harris went in similar fashion to Astle when his attempted sweep off leg-spinner Nagamootoo ballooned into the air and Ramnaresh Sarwan took the catch at short leg.

But the dogged defence of the Styris-Hart duo, and the rain-truncated second session, eventually put the game beyond the reach of the West Indies.

New Zealand paceman Shane Bond was named man of the series after taking seven wickets in the first Test and another five in the second.

He fought his way back to fitness in the one-day series after recovering from a stress fracture in his foot.

“Bond has done very well. He was very slow at the start of the tour but came through at the end. He did a tremendous job on a very flat wicket here,” said New Zealand coach Denis Aberhart.

West Indies skipper Hooper said his side’s poor batting show in Barbados proved costly and also pointed out the inability of his bowlers to kill off the New Zealand tail quickly.

“In quite a few Test matches we seem to be working our way through the first four or five batsmen relatively quickly, but then the tail end is holding us up,” said Hooper.

West Indies coach Roger Harper acknowledged that his players could learn from the tourists.

“One of the reasons we had problems dismissing the New Zealand lower order is because of the tremendous discipline those guys played with. This is something that our lower order has to get better at doing,” said Harper.

West Indies opening batsman Chris Gayle was named man of the match for his innings of 204.

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND (1st innings) 373 (S.Styris 107, M.Richardson 95, N.Astle 69; P.Collins 4-68)