Cricket: Brave Hart stands tall with the bat

BRIDGETOWN - Robbie Hart sported a black eye and a painful bruised middle finger after bravely showing he had the goods at test level for the New Zealand team yesterday.

The Northern Districts gloveman battled the four West Indies pacemen for 316 minutes on a tricky Kensington Oval surface and was still unbeaten on 57 as the tourists reached 337 in the first test.

For Hart, 27, it was just his second test and a stark contrast to his debut last month where he kept wicket for 158 overs as Pakistan scored 643 in the Lahore heat, then had a batting double of four and nought.

Even worse, he narrowly escaped injury when a bomb exploded outside the team hotel in Karachi.

The bad memories were all behind him yesterday as he reflected on an innings which, aside from captain Stephen Fleming's 130, was the key reason behind their dominant position at stumps on day two as they led by 234 overall.

"It's been a great two days, after not a great experience in Pakistan, to just get out and compete with these guys," Hart said. "Runs have been my biggest focus because I've got confidence in my keeping ability.

"It's about getting the respect of your team-mates more than anything, showing that you can contribute. It was a good feeling."

He showed a sound technique and a willingness to patiently grind out an innings, taking 146 balls to hit his first boundary.

Hart and Fleming added 108 in 119 minutes as Fleming hit a fine century.

- NZPA