By RICHARD BOOCK
WELLINGTON - The doors were telling the story last night. One kept opening and closing to a steady stream of beaming faces, while the other remained ominously locked - as the West Indies contemplated one of the worst periods in their cricket history.
The tourists were hammered by eight wickets in the weatheraffected fourth one-day international after being initially restricted to a meagre 171 for nine batting first, and then being sunk by a 149-run partnership between Nathan Astle and Roger Twose.
New Zealand's successful international launch of the new Wellington Stadium coincided with what must have seemed like one of the blackest days for the West Indians, who - having fallen 0-4 behind in the National Bank series with a game to play - might now be having second thoughts about heading home on Wednesday.
For their hosts, on the other hand, it was a continuation of the strong form which has marked their game for the past 13 months, highlighted by a handful of outstanding individual contributions.
Resuming yesterday at 43 for one after rain had interrupted on Saturday, the West Indies first discovered that the newly-laid pitch had become more difficult after a day under the covers, then found that Chris Harris' exaggerated leg-cutters at times were virtually unplayable.
Harris exploited the conditions intelligently, making the ball stop and jump on the batsmen while taking one for 15 off 10 overs, and allowed players like Scott Styris - who removed Ridley Jacobs, Brian Lara and Sherwin Campbell - and Daniel Vettori to adopt a more attacking approach.
The West Indies appeared to change their strategy as well, batting more sedately at the start and looking fairly solid at 73 for one in the 20th over, but were strangled through the middle stages of the innings and managed to lose their last nine wickets for just 98 runs.
Even then, 171 for nine did not seem completely indefensible on a pitch which was behaving unpredictably, but the West Indies were their own worst enemies in the field as well, bowling too short and dropping both Astle and Twose at a time when the game could have been changed.
It may have been this which caused the muffled shouts (officially described as a debrief) behind the dressing-room door after the match, because both New Zealand batsmen prospered from the errors and eventually led their team home with an astonishing 13.3 overs remaining.
Twose, who had not been able score heavily in his previous opportunities, brought up his 12th ODI 50 in 82 balls and ended on 68 not out, while Astle's unbeaten 77 off 99 balls means he has now scored 235 runs in this series at an average of 78.33
An emotional Lara eventually emerged to talk about his team's nightmare run, and suggested tomorrow evening's last hurrah in Christchurch would be pivotal for many West Indians.
"We're not just trying to save a match but a legacy," he said. "West Indian cricket's always going to be around, it's just a matter of whether we want to be a part of it. We need to play with more pride and determination."
In contrast, New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming was a good deal happier, albeit hell-bent on finishing the series in style.
"We're very pleased with the professionalism we carried during that match," he said. "It might have been easy to have relaxed after wrapping up the series, but we turned it on again and now have the chance to take the series 5-nil. That's what we want to do. To send them home without winning a game would be an unbelievable effort."
Cricket: As one team beams another bleeds behind closed doors
AdvertisementAdvertise with NZME.