NZ vs WI, 2nd Test: Holder, Da Silva show some fight to delay inevitable
Dec 13, 2020
Wellington [New Zealand], December 13 : Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva showed some fight on day three of the ongoing second Test as West Indies manage to delay the inevitable against New Zealand on Sunday here at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.
West Indies ended day two at 244/6 in the second innings, still trailing the hosts by 85 runs. Jason Holder and Joshua Da Silva are currently unbeaten on 60 and 25 respectively. For the Kiwis, Trent Boult has scalped three wickets so far.
Resuming day three at 124/8, the Windies innings folded up for 131 in the first innings as Tim Southee scalped the remaining two wickets and as a result, along with Kyle Jamieson, he also ended up with a five-wicket haul. New Zealand had earlier scored 460 in the first innings.
After this, the hosts asked the Windies to follow-on. The Windies once again got off to a poor start as the side lost its first two wickets with just 41 runs on the board. Kraigg Brathwaite (24) and Darren Bravo (4) both failed to leave a mark and they were sent to the pavilion by Boult.
John Campbell and Shamarh Brooks then retrieved the innings for the visitors as the duo put on 89 runs for the third wicket. But as soon as Windies started to look good at the crease, the hosts came back to take three wickets in succession, reducing the visitors to 134/5. Brooks (36) and Campbell (68) were dismissed by Jamieson, while Roston Chase was sent back to the pavilion for a duck by Neil Wagner.
Jermaine Blackwood and skipper Holder then got together at the crease and the duo formed a brief 36-run stand, but the partnership was ended by Boult in the 49th over as he clean bowled Blackwood (20), reducing Windies to 170/6, still trailing the hosts by 159 runs.
Da Silva then joined Holder in the middle and the duo played counter-attacking cricket to form an unbeaten 74 stand. This partnership also saw Holder going past his fifty-run mark. The play was then stopped for bad light and early stumps were called on day three.
Brief Scores: New Zealand 460 vs West Indies 131 and 244/6 (Jason Holder 60*, John Campbell 68, Trent Boult 3-75).
