KINGSTON (Jamaica), Aug 4: Marlon Samuels struck a fine century for West Indies but New Zealand fought back well on the second day of the second Test, bowling out the hosts for 209 here on Friday.

The tourists lead by 110 runs with eight second innings wickets remaining but a good day was spoilt by their openers, Martin Guptill and B.J. Watling, departing late in the final session.

However, after being dismissed for 260 on the first day, skipper Ross Taylor will be delighted by the character shown by his team, in particular the performances of his opening bowlers.

Trent Boult and Doug Bracewell picked up three wickets apiece in a good all-round display from the Kiwis in the field.

Samuels, whose century was his first in the Caribbean and came on home soil for him at Sabina Park, hit 15 fours and four sixes including one to bring up his ton. He was the last man out for 123 after holing out to Neil Wagner off Bracewell.

The Jamaican had little support from his team mates with no other batsman making a half-century. West Indies skipper Darren Sammy was the second top scorer with 32. Sammy and Samuels put on a 49-run partnership that at least gave the hosts the chance to scrape past 200.

New Zealand started their reply well but the test took another turn with spinner Deonarine given two overs near the end and making the most of them to get rid off the in-form Guptill (42) and Watling with both batsmen trapped leg before.

While those wickets will hearten Sammy’s team, New Zealand’s lead heading into the third day remains a promising position for a team who, after a poor tour, are trying to level the two-Test series at 1-1. —Reuters

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND (1st Innings) 260 (M.J. Guptill 721, L.R.P.L. Taylor 60; K.A.J. Roach 4-70). WEST INDIES (1st Innings, overnight 11-0): C.H. Gayle c Watling b Wagner    8 K.O.A. Powell c Brownlie b Boult    10 A.B. Fudadin lbw b Boult    5 M.N. Samuels c Wagner b Bracewell    123 S. Chanderpaul c Taylor b Southee    9 N. Deonarine c van Wyk b Boult    0 D. Ramdin c Williamson b Wagner    15 D.J.G. Sammy lbw b Southee    32 S.P. Narine c Guptill b Bracewell    1 K.A.J. Roach c Guptill b Bracewell    0 T.L. Best not out    0 EXTRAS (LB-4, W-2)    6 TOTAL (all out, 64.3 overs)    209 FALL OF WKTS: 1-11, 2-17, 3-53, 4-82, 5-83, 6-113, 7-162, 8-177, 9-183. BOWLING: Boult 17-2-58-3; Bracewell 15.3-3-46-3 (1w); Southee 19-5-70-2; Wagner 10-3-24-2; Williamson 3-0-7-0. NEW ZEALAND (2nd Innings): M.J. Guptill lbw b Deonarine    42 B.J. Watling lbw b Deonarine    11 N. Wagner not out    2 B.B. McCullum not out    1 EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-2)    3 TOTAL (for two wkts, 21 overs)    59 FALL OF WKTS: 1-55, 2-56. BOWLING (to-date): Roach 5-1-17-0 (1nb); Best 5-1-16-0; Sammy 6-2-19-0 (1nb); Narine 3-0-3-0; Deonarine 2-1-3-2.