Jamaica Cricket Association launches 6-team T10 Blast
WI vs SA: Shai Hope, Roston Chase return as Jyden Seales earn maiden Windies call up
WI vs SL | 2nd Test Day 1: Skipper Brathwaite resurrects Windies after Lakmal's new-ball scare
WI vs SL | 1st Test Report: Nkrumah Bonner brings up maiden Test ton to salvage draw for Windies
A marathon maiden Test ton from Nkrumah Bonner helped West Indies salvaged a draw in the first Test of the series at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua. Coming into the fifth and final day of the Test, Windies had an uphill task of resisting an impressive Sri Lankan bowling lineup for a whole day. But, Bonner stood tall right when the team required him to bat big and batsmen around him such as Kayle Mayers and Jason Holder batted with mixed aggression with grit to deny Sri Lanka any chance of running through the batting order to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Windies had already lost the opener, John Campbell, on the fourth day and the skipper Kraigg Brathwaite has had a task on his hands to get his team off to a solid start. He showed patience against pacers and did not play loosely outside his off stump that had resulted in his dismissal in the first innings. However, after spending more than three hours on the crease, his patience withered away against the left-arm spinner Lasith Embuldeniya. He danced down the track to hit him over the top and in the process lost his stumps to make the tourists ecstatic. With both the openers gone by 40 overs, the responsibility of bailing the team out of trouble fell once again on the shoulders of the newest emerging batting talents in the Caribbean—Nkrumah Bonner and Kayle Mayers, who had led Windies to a remarkable series win in Bangladesh. They started defensively against Embuldeniya and the off-spin of Dhananjaya de Silva. Their task was made tough when Dimuth Karunaratne brougt Dushmantha Chameera into the attack and runs started to dry up. The target was not a key factor fo the pair, but Sri Lankan bowlers understood that prolonged pressure would bring a loose shot. However, in the battle of who will blink first, Chameera lost and provided a loose delivery outside Bonner’s off stump. The right-hander was all in readiness and thumped the delivery towards the off-side boundary to show confidence. Chameera bounced back in the next over and caught Mayers in front of the stumps. The umpire did not agree to the loud appeal from Sri Lankans and the skipper opted for a review. The ball was pitched marginally outside the leg stump and Mayers survived the close call. He out all that to rest with a crisp drive off Suranga Lakmal in the next over when the pacer erred by blowing too full to him. Sri Lanka kept coming at them every now and then though as Embuldeniya found Bonner paying from the crease to a delivery that turned slightly away. This time, the umpire agreed to the appeal and gave the batsman out caught behind, but only to reverse his decision after a review. Both Bonner and Mayers flourished with confidence and took Windies to the tea interval on the final day. The Windies batsmen had already batted two and a half session out of a total of three and a half sessions they were supposed to bat to save the game. However, they were jolted right after the tea break as Embuldeniya finally broke through with a delivery wide off Mayer’s off stump and tempting the batsman to go for a booming drive. The edge was found and snaffled up by Lahiru Thirimanne at the slip. The tourists had an opening with the next man in—Jermaine Blackwood not really known for his defensive batting. He bats with freedom and having taken the second new ball with and many runs left in the bank, Lanka sensed an opportunity against him. Skipper Karunaratne brought Vishwa Fernando to cramp him for room outside off stump and the move paid dividends. The new ball swung for Fernando and yorked Blackwood with an inswinging yorker to ring an alarm for the hosts. Bonner grew in confidence and was batting fluently in the middle. He jumped quickly past the 80s to get on the brink of his maiden century before Blackwood departed. The wicket did not deter him and when Fernando provided him with a half volley at 99, he smashed it to the boundary to bring up a much-deserving century. Jason Holder batted superbly to deny Sri Lanka any chance of getting into the lower order batsmen beneath him and the hosts managed to get out of the game with the series still hanging in balance at 0-0. The second and the last game of the series will be played at the same venue from March 29.
New Zealand vs West Indies Test Series: 5 biggest takeaways
Despite all of the hopes of West Indian fans, the two-match Test series between them and hosts New Zealand turned out to be an excruciatinlgiy one-sided affair. The Kiwis won both their matches by a margin of an innings and more. What was an even bigger let down was the lack of runs from West Indian batsmen, after their good showing in practice matches. With the Caribbean team, it seems they take one step forward and two backwards in their journey over the last few years. After registering a wonderful win against England in the first Test of their tour of that country, they ended up crumbling in the next two. Now, this annihilation has added to their worries. On the other hand, things couldn't seem rosier for the hosts. Not only did they win both the matches, but their captain again showed his class with a 250 and their bowling attack fired on all cylinders. In the absence of Williamson, Tom Latham got the opportunity to lead the team and seems to have done it well. So, with the series over, it's time to understand what were the biggest takeaways from it. We have selected five key developments that merit attention. Jamieson Solidifies His Position Kyle Jamieson had a dream start to his career earlier this year when he caused a lot of problems to visiting Indian batsmen. Now, he has gone further and firmed up his place in the team. While his ability outside New Zealand, in unhelpful conditions isn't known, at least, at home, he will be a force to reckon with in coming tours. Tall, with a bit of pace, and able to swing the ball, he adds another string to the capable bow of New Zealand bowling attack. Campbell Gets a Lifeline Despite disappointing returns so far in his career, West Indies have persisted with their opener John Campbell in the team. This may have to do with genuine belief in his ability or maybe, a result of a lack of viable options in the domestic circuit. By scoring a half-century in the final innings of the series, Campbell may have just managed to hold onto his spot in the team. There are clearly areas in his game that need to be mended. Footwork has been bad and the left-hander has played too many unwarranted strokes. But his half-century in the second innings of the last Test showed there is something in his batting to work with. He is likely to feature again when West Indies next take the field in a Test match. Blackwood Shows His Mettle Jermaine Blackwood is a batsman who likes going for his shots whenever the ball seems to be in his hitting zone. This extravagant style of batting didn't go down well with Michael Holding during the team's tour of England in 2017. The West Indian legend insisted that batting with too much free will would make him a hit-and-miss sort of batsman. Getting dropped from the team seemed to prove Holding's words true. But then, during the West Indies team's tour of England this year, Blackwood surprised the former Windies pacer and others by showing a more measured approach to risk taking. He took his team to victory in the first Test with a brilliant 95. Blackwood has again shown what a capable batsman he is by shining in this otherwise gloomy series for West Indies. He is still taking risks, hitting the ball in the air, and playing shots which appear too risky. But it seems that this only happens at the start of his innings. Once he settles down, he becomes more stable. Perhaps, there is yet a need for cutting out gratuitous risks from his batting. But he certainly has shown tremendous improvement. Opening Issue Remains for New Zealand New Zealand's batting looks very solid at the moment. But there is one spot in the line-up which remains troubling - the opening slot. New Zealand have been trying to find a long-term partner for Tom Latham but the search continues. After Jeet Raval, the Kiwis have been trying Tom Blundell but his failures in this series keep his place in the team uncertain. To be fair, he had just two innings in this series. Hence, New Zealand would stick to him for the time being. But Blundell will be under pressure when he next opens the innings for his team. Middle Order Problems for Windies The failure of West Indies' batting order was most pronounced in their experienced middle-order. Both Darren Bravo and Roston Chase struggled badly. Chase, in fact, has been failing for quite some time and mainly due to his poor defence. Bravo has the best footwork in the Windies team and Chase has been one of the most reliable batsmen in their side. If these two don't fire, the spine of the batting line-up collapses. With Shimron Hetmyer waiting in the wings, both would be under pressure. Bravo's position is a bit more vulnerable because he has been in and out of the team while Chase has been a regular, also the latter has his bowling to back his claim to a spot.
West Indies fancy the path less trodden
In the talismanic tutelage of Jason Holder, West Indies are finally learning to unlearn the flawed education so deeply rooted in their conscience.
NZ vs WI | 2nd Test, Day 3: Defiant Jason Holder, John Campbell halt Kiwis' surge
Defiant half-centuries from the captain Jason Holder and John Campbell saved the West Indies from an embarrassing defeat on the day of the second and final Test of the series in Wellington. Jason Holder was not out on 60 at the end of the day’s play and with the wicketkeeper-batsman Joshua Da Silva stitched an unbeaten partnership of 74 runs to halt Blackcaps’ rally against the men in maroon. The tourists resumed their first innings at 124/8 at the start of Day 3 and Tim Southee was quick to mop up the last two wickets in only the third over of the day when Da Silva feathered one through to BJ Watling while trying to leave Southee's away going delivery. Next man in, Shannon Southee took his 10th fifer in Tests when he bowled Shannon Gabriel to finish off the West Indies’ first innings at 131. Blackcaps’ stand-in skipper Tom Latham enforced follow-on as the bowlers were fairly fresh after bowling out tourists comprehensively inside 60 overs. His decision was vindicated by the bowlers yet against as Trent Boult, who, in one of the most surprising events of the series so far, went wicketless in the first innings started taking stern examination of Windies’s openers John Campbell and Kraigg Braithwaite. Boult troubled Campbell big time and he survived numerous close calls of LBW and misses outside the off stump but the first to fall was Brathwaite who was snaffled brilliantly by Will Young at the leg gully position when the right-hander tried to glance Boult towards fine leg. Darren Bravo has had a nightmare on this tour and the last innings was not different as a searing bouncer from Boult caught him napping. He looked short of confidence for his brief stay at the crease and the Kiwi bowlers have left him with a lot to ponder about his batting in Tests. Shamarh Brooks was the next man in who is yet another member of a 'highly-promising but failing to deliver' bunch of West Indies batsmen and he started to show his quality with classical shots with supreme flair. A six over square leg with a mere flick of the wrist when Southee erred in his line and bowled a leg-stump half volley was one of the signs of his calibre as a batsman. He was equally efficient on the off side and used the full deliveries Kiwis bowled in pursuit of outside edge to his advantage as he and Campbell stitched an enterprising 89 runs stands for the third wicket. On the other hand, Campbell was doing justice to the number of chances he has been provided with by the team management and was batting supreme confidence and freedom. He was severe on anything short against him and took on the short-pitched bowling to keep the boundaries flowing for him. Neil Wagner, who jumped to the number two position on the ICC Rankings for Bowlers in Tests, was working through a decent spell but was bowling too full for both Brooks and Campbell in search of their outside or inside edges as the duo kept on driving him between point to cover region. Wagner showed maturity and pulled his length back and the move paid dividend immediately as Brooks was lured into poking a ball he should have left on the angle and the length, but his impressive innings was cut short yet again without a significant contribution. Kyle Jamieson who bowled superbly in the first innings to claim a five-wicket haul, almost got the better of Campbell in the very next over with a delivery that bounced more than the left-hander had expected but the ball landed in a no man’s zone. Jamieson was not to miss out for long though as he took two wickets in his next two overs. First, the vice-captain Roston Chase found himself against a delivery he could not afford to leave while a slight movement accompanied with bounce took the outside edge of the bat to really hurt the West Indies after a solid partnership between Campbell and Brooks. Jamieson bettered his last over by dismissing Campbell in his very next over as West Indies looked to start another defeat inside three days in a Test match. Next man in, Jermaine Blackwood batted in his usual ‘go down slogging’ style of batting and earned boundaries albeit with the help of outside edges that flew over the slip cordon. Ultimately, Trent Boult was too accurate for his batting and his ‘dirty slog’ as Cregg McMillan said at that time while commentating cost him his wicket. Captain Jason Holder survived a few close calls off Jamieson who was working great rhythm but was particularly severe against short balls bowled by Kiwis bowlers. In the end part of the day’s play, New Zealand bowlers decided to dig the ball short in order to test the backfoot game of both Holder and Joshua Da Silva and the duo showed good technique and they pulled and hooked their ways out of trouble and carried their team to the fourth day of the game. Still, West Indies are trailing by 85 runs from a mountainous score of 460 scored by the hosts and would need both Holder and Da Silva to go on and score big runs if they have to avert a big defeat, leave alone salvaging some pride on the tour.
Shambolic West Indies crumble against ruthless New Zealand
West Indies seemed to have an outside chance of making a comeback into the match at the start of day 2 in the second and final Test match between hosts New Zealand and the touring Caribbean side. However, the proved to be another one of those agonising experiences that West Indian fans have become used to in the last two decades. To begin with, Henry Nicholls continued his innings and made it past 150. When the eighth wicket fell, in the form of Tim Southee on the score of 359, Windies would have fancied their chances of restricting the Kiwis to less than 400. But a storm awaited them as Neil Wagner went berserk. A 95-run partnership between Nicholls and Wagner, at well over run-a-ball, completely demoralised the tourists. By the time Nicholls, got out, West Indies were deflated. But this was only the start of the ordeal. Eventually, New Zealand were all out for 460, with Wagner remaining unbeaten on 66 off just 42 balls. Nicholls finished up with a personal score of 174. Gabriel didn't add to his three wickets overnight while Alzarri Joseph ended with three as well. Chemar Holder and Roston Chase got two scalps each. Then came the turn of the West Indies batters to disappoint. Kraigg Brathwaite, supposedly in great form after getting his highest first-class score in a practice game, was out for a duck. Darren Bravo disappointed again as he was out caught and bowled by Tim Southee for just 7. Kyle Jamieson was introduced into the attack in the 15th over. And he immediately looked threatening. On the third ball of the over, he got John Campbell to edge the ball into the slip cordon where Latham took the catch. West Indies were 29/3. On the very next ball, Roston Chase, the new batsman, got a very full delivery that swung in viciously to go through the batsman's defences and hit the stumps. 29/4 and Windies were looking as hopeless as they did in the first game. Jermaine Blackwood, centurion from the first Test, played in his usual way. Going after any delivery that was pitched too full, he started playing his shots. As is the case with him, there were some wild swings of the bat, some streaky shots, but soon he settled down and with measured aggression, started to take his team's score forward. At the other end, Shamarh Brooks, the no. 4 batsman, took an altogether different approach. He went into his shell and hardly played an aggressive stroke. But with time, Blackwood became even more steady. Despite a sequence of four maidens, he didn't lose his head and continued to bat sensibly. He brought up his fifty with consecutive boundaries, the second one an upper cut over the slips. Even the short ball barrage of Wagner, into his ribs didn't trouble the diminutive right-hander much. Unfortunately, just when things seemed to have calmed down for the visiting team, Brooks decided to leave a delivery from Jamieson which was angled in sharply. It clipped the top of the stumps, ending the 68-run partnership. A little later, Southee bowled another outswinger that took the edge of Blackwood's bat and a good catch in the slip ended his innings of 69 off 92 balls. Windies were 111/6. Two more wickets went down as first, captain Holder went for a pull shot and was, apparently, done in by the extra bounce generated by Jamieson, lobbing an easy catch to mid-on. Then, the tall Kiwi seamer completed his five-for by getting a snick off Joseph's bat, to be taken by wicketkeeper BJ Watling. Using his height, good pace of over 140 kph, and ability to swing the ball, Jamieson has now racked up 18 wickets in his career, of which this is only the fourth match. With Southee, Boult, and Wagner already providing great firepower to this team, Jamieson's addition makes it even more deadly, at least at home. Windies ended the day on 124/8, all set for another disappointing innings defeat. The only thing they can draw solace from is Blackwood's good form and the willingness of Brooks to spend time at the wicket. It is more than can be said about the other batsmen of the team.
West Indies settle for tame high-scoring draw in practice game
West Indies Test team would have been upbeat after piling up 571 in their first innings of the practice match against New Zealand A. However, the latter side ensured that the visitors won't get any further encouragement by scoring 440/8 in their own innings as the four-day match ended in a tame draw. The New Zealand A side benefitted from two centuries, one from 28-year old right-hander Will Young and the other by their skipper Cole McConchie, also 28. For the Windies team, up and coming pacer Chemar Holder was the leading wicket-taker with figures of 3/100 in 28 overs while Kraigg Braithwaite followed up his highest first-class score with decent figures of 2/66 in 28 overs. Captain Jason Holder picked up a solitary wicket in his 19 overs while conceding 45 runs while Alzarri Joseph went wicketless in his 18 overs. The only frontline spinner in West Indies line up, Rahkeem Cornwall, also got just one wicket in return for 34 runs off 15 overs. All-rounder Raymon Reifer remained without any scalps. One wicket was taken by part-timer Jason Campbell. While conceding such a big score is not ideal for the West Indies team, it is quite possible that the pacers bowled within themselves and didn't exert much after discovering the flat nature of the wicket. The likes of Jason Holder and Alzarri Joseph are quite likely to benefit from the swing-friendly conditions of New Zealand when the Test series start. Earlier in the match, West Indian opener Kraigg Braithwaite scored 248, his highest score in first-class cricket. His effort, along with 93 from the returning Darren Bravo and 53 from Jermaine Blackwood, took the visitors to an impressive 571. Braithwaite had a tough time in West Indies' last Test series in England. His big score would please the West Indies team and the selectors. However, the spotlight would be on his opening partner Campbell who hasn't got a good score for some time. The 93 by Bravo is also crucial due to the importance of the left-hander in the West Indies team. With Shai Hope out of the team due to lack of runs, Bravo's role becomes greater. The two-match Test series begins on December 3 at Hamilton. Second Test takes place from December 11 at Wellington.