2012 a good year for Caribbean Cricket – Part VIII
Continued from Part VII...
New Zealand in West Indies Test Series, 2012
The Windies took the winning momentum from the limited-overs leg of the itinerary into the two-match Test series, winning both the fixtures to complete a clean sweep against the Black Caps.
The first Test played at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, North Sound in Antigua was won by the hosts by nine wickets. After opting to bat first, the New Zealanders rode Martin Guptill’s blitz to post a respectable first innings total of 351 all out. Guptill’s
painstaking 97 were well supported by http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sunil-Philip-Narine-c91869 continued dominating the visiting batting line up in the longest format of the game as well,
returning with figures of 5 for 132 – his first five-wicket haul in Test cricket.
A 254 run opening stand between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Assad-Badyr-Fudadin-c46573 (55), Narsingh Deonarine (79)
and skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/BB-McCullum-c1129 scoring startling fifties at the top, a lower order capitulation saw the Black Caps amassing a mere 272 before
being bowled out by Kemar Roach led West Indies attack, setting a 102-run target for the hosts to win. Gayle followed up his first innings’ impressive 150 with an unbeaten half century to take his side home quite comprehensively, with nine wickets to spare.
The second Test at the Sabina Park, Kingston, Jamaica, was also won by the Darren Sammy led contingent to secure a 2-0 series win, their first Test series triumph against a team other than lowly ranked http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045 in the last three years.
After putting the tourists into bat, the Windies restricted them to just 260 all out in their first innings. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/LRPL-Taylor-c1849 (60) showed some resistance against the home attack, but lack of support from the rest of the batsmen
(all falling for scores less than 23) meant the whole visiting line up was bundled out for a total inside the 300-run mark. Kemar Roach was the pick of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 bowlers with figures of 4 for 70. Tino Best and Narsingh Deonarine both picked up two wickets
apiece, while Sunil Narine accounted http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Doug-Bracewell-c1394.
The hosts looked in danger of losing the game after being reduced to 83 for 5 at one stage. But a valiant century scored by Jamaican middle-order batsman http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Marlon-Nathaniel-Samuels-c74804 (123 off 169) helped the Windies get past the 200-run mark before being bowled out for
209. However, the Caribbean contingent fought its way back into the match through spin duo of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/N-Deonarine-c2051 (4 for 37) and Sunil Narine (3 for 19), rolling over the tourists for just 154 in their second innings. The 206-run target was comfortably chased
down by the home side on the fifth morning, courtesy Marlon Samuels’ 52, well supported by an unbeaten 43 from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KAJ-Roach-c1758.
This was West Indies’ first Test series win against http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 since 1995-96, and first 2-0 victory against a major Test team since 2002.
Continued in Part IX...
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