NZ vs WI, 1st Test: Wagner, Jamieson run through Windies as Kiwis win after Blackwood ton
Dec 06, 2020
Hamilton [New Zealand], December 6 : Jermaine Blackwood smashed his second hundred before Neil Wagner and Kyle Jamieson ripped through West Indies lower order to seal a comfortable victory for New Zealand by an innings and 134 runs in the first Test on Sunday.
In their first match in the longest format of the game for nine months, the Kiwis took 80 minutes on day four to complete the win.
Wagner and Jamieson struck the last three wickets in the space of 10 balls to take a 1-0 lead in the two-match Test series.
West Indies resumed the day from 196/6, still needing 185 runs to make Kiwis bat again. Blackwood showed great control of his game, however, Wagner dismissed him just in the next over after a special innings from Joseph had come to an end.
Shannon Gabriel lasted just four balls as West Indies were folded for 247 in their second innings.
Earlier on day three, Blackwood and Joseph had scored half-centuries to stage a fightback after New Zealand enforced the follow-on to maintain their dominance in the first Test.
After cleaning West Indies up for 138 in the first innings, New Zealand bowlers again wreaked havoc in the second innings leaving West Indies tottering at 89/6 in the 22nd over.
It seemed like New Zealand would have wrapped up a big win on day three itself, but Blackwood and Alzarri finished the day with a fighting partnership. The duo had put on an unbroken 107-run stand for the seventh wicket to end play at 196/6.
With this win, New Zealand have taken 60 points and are closing in on England in third, who are just over three per cent ahead of them in the World Test Championship points table.
The second and final Test between the two sides begins December 11 at Wellington.
