NZ story (pre-patch)

[GrahamB]

West Indies v NZ (1st Test 2012)



Success at last, but there are still two tests left in the series, so it ain't over yet.

Neal Parlane scored 41 in his first test innings to help get us off to a solid start, but it was Iain Robertson who anchored our innings with a wonderful 158. He got good support from Daniel Flynn (54), Daniel Vettori (81 after coming in as a nightwatchman), debutante Rob Nicoll (49no) and Jake Oram (42).
Jaggernauth was dangerous throughout, taking a stunning 6/101, but he wasn't backed up by the pace bowlers.

We backed up our big score with a superb effort in the field. All of our bowlers applied the pressure, and the Windies were never going to recover from 91/5. Bravo and Baugh dug in to build an 81 run partnership, but once their stand was broken, there was little else in our way.

We enforced the follow on, but the Windies were much more stubborn in their second innings as they desperately tried to avoid losing.
Hinds (103), Chanderpaul (63) and Gayle (60) all showed their quality with fighting knocks, but the top order was knocked over by a rampant John Allenby who claimed five of the first six batsmen as his victims as he finished with 5/103.
Sammy tried to hold the tail together with a nice innings of 46, but once we'd wrapped the innings up at 365, we were left with a small target of 80 for victory.

A fired up Windies new ball attack removed both of our openers cheaply, but Robertson and Flynn saw us through to a convincing victory!

[GrahamB]

No changes to our side for the second test, but the Windies have dropped Kevin McClean in favour of legspinner Gavin Wallace. Facing the spin duo of Jaggernauth and Wallace is really going to put us under the pump!

[goldfan]

With three debutants in the side, that's a very impressive result! Keep up the good work for the next two

[Chasjs]

Yeah, win!!! Well played Robertson, Allenby and Vettori.

[Imager36]

Woo, go Graham

EDIT:- West Indies have picked the team all wrong

[GrahamB]

Woo, go Graham

EDIT:- West Indies have picked the team all wrong

I'm not complaining!
I suspect that we're going to struggle against a twin spin attack in the second test though.

[GrahamB]

West Indies v NZ (2nd Test 2012)



Whoa - only my second series victory!

The Windies bowlers put in a much better performance against us, and it was only thanks to further fine century from Iain Robertson plus another helping hand from captain Dan Vettori that we battled past 300.

In reply, Chris Gayle showed what a dangerous player he can be as he clobbered 106 off just 129 deliveries!
However, the only other batsmen to put up a fight were Barath (53) and the veteran Chanderpaul (50), and we were able to secure a small first innings advantage.
Jamie How put in a useful showing as a part time bowler, with two wickets in two overs, including the valuable scalp of Barath.

Amit Jaggernauth always had us anxious in our second innings as we tried to build up a big enough score to give us a chance for victory.
Rob Nicoll had missed out on a half century upon debut, but led the way for us here with 72. Oram (45), Robertson (39), Flynn (36), Parlane(33) and Vettori (32) all contributed to help us set the Windies 306 to chase for the win.
Jaggernauth finished with 5/76.

John Allenby is proving to be a marvellous acquisition to our bowling attack, and he again destroyed the home side with a magnificent haul of 6/36!
Ryan Hinds tried to stem the damage as he battled to an unbeaten 61no, but nobody else was able to stick around long enough to cause us any problems.
In dismissing the Windies for a paltry 145, we wrapped up the test series with another big victory.

[Chasjs]

Yeah!!! Nice one!!!

[GrahamB]

Yeah!!! Nice one!!!

Hopefully things are looking up, but the Windies aren't exactly world beaters. The measure will be how we go against either England, Aussie, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or South Africa. I suspect we still have a long way to go before we can compete with those teams.

[GrahamB]

With the series already sewn up, we made a few changes for the final test.
Jamie How has had a disappointing tour with the bat, so it's the ideal opportunity to give Hugh Baildon another chance.
Greg Hay has likewise had a disappointing tour, so Shaun Haig comes in for his third test.
Jacob Oram is not the force that he used to be with either bat or ball, so Lance Shaw gets a recall.
Despite Fred Drinkell having had a disappointing start to his test career, I've persisted with the young keeper to see if he can deliver the goods this time round.

The Windies have made one change, with Sarwan replacing Bravo.

[Chasjs]

Hopefully things are looking up, but the Windies aren't exactly world beaters. The measure will be how we go against either England, Aussie, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka or South Africa. I suspect we still have a long way to go before we can compete with those teams.

Yeah, it's a start though. I wish you luck against those teams.

I'm trying desperately hard to avoid the 'eventually you get to a place where the only way you can go is up' analogy.

[GrahamB]

I'm trying desperately hard to avoid the 'eventually you get to a place where the only way you can go is up' analogy.

Yeah - it's pretty frustrating ending up in that situation, believe me!

Changing the subject, Vettori is the only player who has relished in the captaincy role for me in tests. Every other player who has been given a chance has suffered a form slump as a result.

[Chasjs]

Changing the subject, Vettori is the only player who has relished in the captaincy role for me in tests. Every other player who has been given a chance has suffered a form slump as a result.

Yeah, luckily on my game I've just left it with Strauss and he's been great. I'm not sure how I'd go about selecting a captain really. It's not like theirs anything you can look for. Maybe a high average and number of games. Possibly age and experience aswell. Other than that, it seems like guess work.

[GrahamB]

West Indies v NZ (3rd Test 2012)



We won yet again to complete a 3-0 whitewash of the woeful Windies.

Batting first, the home side were quickly in trouble at 56/4 before old man Chanderpaul and Sarwan salvaged some pride with a 122 run partnership. Darren Sammy showed some spine to finish the innings unbeaten on 34, but apart from these three players, only one other reached double figures.
Allenby and Vettori were the bowlers to do most of the damage.

Our batsmen also found the going difficult, especially against the spin duo of Jaggernauth and Wallace.
Nicoll (51), Haig (46) and Parlane (35) were the main contributors, although quite a few got good starts.
The 36 run lead we achieved was to prove pretty handy as things turned out.

A rampant John Allenby knocked the top off the Windies batting yet again, aided by Shaw and Vettori.
Keeper Carlton Baugh (40) tried to hold things together, but received no support as his side plummeted to 139 all out!

Requiring 104 for victory, we got off to a disastrous start with both openers sent back before we had a run on the board. However, Daniel Flynn was our saviour with an unbeaten half century as we secured the win with six wickets to spare.

[Johncladio]

West Indies v NZ (3rd Test 2012)

We won yet again to complete a 3-0 whitewash of the woeful Windies.
Batting first, the home side were quickly in trouble at 56/4 before old man Chanderpaul and Sarwan salvaged some pride with a 122 run partnership. Darren Sammy showed some spine to finish the innings unbeaten on 34, but apart from these three players, only one other reached double figures.
Allenby and Vettori were the bowlers to do most of the damage.
Our batsmen also found the going difficult, especially against the spin duo of Jaggernauth and Wallace.
Nicoll (51), Haig (46) and Parlane (35) were the main contributors, although quite a few got good starts.
The 36 run lead we achieved was to prove pretty handy as things turned out.
A rampant John Allenby knocked the top off the Windies batting yet again, aided by Shaw and Vettori.
Keeper Carlton Baugh (40) tried to hold things together, but received no support as his side plummeted to 139 all out!
Requiring 104 for victory, we got off to a disastrous start with both openers sent back before we had a run on the board. However, Daniel Flynn was our saviour with an unbeaten half century as we secured the win with six wickets to spare.

Chanderpaul is a real quality batsman.