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Tea New Zealand 351 and 92 for 1 (Guptill 42*, McCullum 26*) trail West Indies 522 (Sammy 50, Deonarine 79) by 79 runs
Narsingh Deonarine scored 79 to help West Indies post 522 © DigicelCricket.com/Brooks LaTouche Photography
New Zealand made steady progress towards erasing the first-innings deficit of 171, losing only one wicket in the session. The plan seemed to adopt a wait and watch approach and not give the West Indies bowlers an early advantage, considering the scoreboard pressure. The fourth day pitch didn't hold too many demons, though Sunil Narine did pose questions.
New Zealand had the entire lunch break to regroup before they came out to bat, having bowled out the hosts at the stroke of lunch. The openers' approach was positive. Martin Guptill began with a sweetly timed punch off the back foot which beat the bowler to get the innings going. The seamers at times bowled too full and on the pads to Guptill, who easily flicked them away to the leg side. There was a silly mid-on in place for the checked drive and Guptill nearly chipped it to that fielder. Besides that, he didn't offer too many chances.
Kemar Roach ran in hard to work up pace and beat the bat on occasion, but couldn't sustain the pressure long enough. Daniel Flynn was strong on the front foot, punching a half volley down the ground and opening the face of the bat to steer it past the slips. Darren Sammy brought on Sunil Narine after eight overs, when New Zealand had added a brisk 34.
Narine had a shout in his opening over when the ball struck Guptill's pads as he tried to flick it. It turned out to be a wasted review by West Indies as replays showed the ball possibly missing the leg stump. Narine had better luck against Flynn in his following over, trapping him on the back foot plumb in front of the stumps. Flynn's departure slackened the run-rate, as Sammy in particular kept things tight with a stump-to-stump line. The pair of Guptill and Brendon McCullum were also watchful against Narine, who got a few to shoot off the rough outside the off stump.
Earlier, West Indies built on their advantage from the third day to secure a lead of 171, their first 150-plus first-innings lead since the Multan Test against Pakistan in 2006. The hosts began the day 91 ahead with a set Narsingh Deonarine at the crease, and they played out an entire session, taking their score to 522.
Sammy signaled his intent at the start by putting away the first ball of the day for a boundary. The slowness of the track meant that the batsmen still had to be patient and wait for the loose balls. Driving through the line wasn't as easy as it was on the second day, when Chris Gayle took guard.
Deonarine had a close call when a thick outside edge beat Kane Williamson at slip and raced to the boundary. He settled on playing straighter, driving on the up and just clearing the non-striker Sammy. His best shot of the morning was a deliberate glide, off Chris Martin, past the big gap between the wicketkeeper and slip. He crashed the following ball past point and ended the over by smacking a half volley past mid-off. Chris Martin had the last laugh when Deonarine pushed loosely outside the off stump and played onto his stumps.
Sammy continued to look positive, punishing the wide ones, and helped himself to a six over deep midwicket to bring up his half-century. West Indies then brought up their 500 - their first since the Mumbai Test last year - and the 150 lead. Daniel Vettori, in one of his more difficult outings, finally had a wicket when Sammy got a top edge off a slog sweep.
New Zealand then took the final wicket at the stroke of lunch. Their batsmen saw off the second session without much fuss, but for the wicket of Flynn. They will have to continue the good work for another to keep West Indies at bay.
Narsingh Deonarine scored 79 to help West Indies post 522 © DigicelCricket.com/Brooks LaTouche Photography
New Zealand made steady progress towards erasing the first-innings deficit of 171, losing only one wicket in the session. The plan seemed to adopt a wait and watch approach and not give the West Indies bowlers an early advantage, considering the scoreboard pressure. The fourth day pitch didn't hold too many demons, though Sunil Narine did pose questions.
New Zealand had the entire lunch break to regroup before they came out to bat, having bowled out the hosts at the stroke of lunch. The openers' approach was positive. Martin Guptill began with a sweetly timed punch off the back foot which beat the bowler to get the innings going. The seamers at times bowled too full and on the pads to Guptill, who easily flicked them away to the leg side. There was a silly mid-on in place for the checked drive and Guptill nearly chipped it to that fielder. Besides that, he didn't offer too many chances.
Kemar Roach ran in hard to work up pace and beat the bat on occasion, but couldn't sustain the pressure long enough. Daniel Flynn was strong on the front foot, punching a half volley down the ground and opening the face of the bat to steer it past the slips. Darren Sammy brought on Sunil Narine after eight overs, when New Zealand had added a brisk 34.
Narine had a shout in his opening over when the ball struck Guptill's pads as he tried to flick it. It turned out to be a wasted review by West Indies as replays showed the ball possibly missing the leg stump. Narine had better luck against Flynn in his following over, trapping him on the back foot plumb in front of the stumps. Flynn's departure slackened the run-rate, as Sammy in particular kept things tight with a stump-to-stump line. The pair of Guptill and Brendon McCullum were also watchful against Narine, who got a few to shoot off the rough outside the off stump.
Earlier, West Indies built on their advantage from the third day to secure a lead of 171, their first 150-plus first-innings lead since the Multan Test against Pakistan in 2006. The hosts began the day 91 ahead with a set Narsingh Deonarine at the crease, and they played out an entire session, taking their score to 522.
Sammy signaled his intent at the start by putting away the first ball of the day for a boundary. The slowness of the track meant that the batsmen still had to be patient and wait for the loose balls. Driving through the line wasn't as easy as it was on the second day, when Chris Gayle took guard.
Deonarine had a close call when a thick outside edge beat Kane Williamson at slip and raced to the boundary. He settled on playing straighter, driving on the up and just clearing the non-striker Sammy. His best shot of the morning was a deliberate glide, off Chris Martin, past the big gap between the wicketkeeper and slip. He crashed the following ball past point and ended the over by smacking a half volley past mid-off. Chris Martin had the last laugh when Deonarine pushed loosely outside the off stump and played onto his stumps.
Sammy continued to look positive, punishing the wide ones, and helped himself to a six over deep midwicket to bring up his half-century. West Indies then brought up their 500 - their first since the Mumbai Test last year - and the 150 lead. Daniel Vettori, in one of his more difficult outings, finally had a wicket when Sammy got a top edge off a slog sweep.
New Zealand then took the final wicket at the stroke of lunch. Their batsmen saw off the second session without much fuss, but for the wicket of Flynn. They will have to continue the good work for another to keep West Indies at bay.