KEY POINTS:
Daniel Vettori was emphatic: one of the critical elements if New Zealand are to succeed in the two-test series against the West Indies is to keep the tourists' Big Three batsmen in check. It promises to be an intriguing contest. New Zealand's bowlers will have their plans in place, but will they work against the three senior West Indies batsmen, Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine Chanderpaul?
The trio with 260 tests and 17,694 runs between them have proved themselves against the best attacks. It's New Zealand's turn. The challenge is on.
Chris Gayle
The all left-handed opener leads the West Indies, but his reign has not been without some turmoil.
The Jamaican resigned the captaincy after the West Indies loss to Australia in June, then changed his mind.
He has plundered runs from top class attacks with a forceful, stand-and-deliver approach, but consistency has never been his byword.
Gayle's highest test score, 317, came on a batting highway at Antigua against South Africa, and he took 204 off New Zealand at Grenada six years ago.
He has gone 23 tests since that triple ton without a century. There have been 11 fifties in that time, but he's overdue to go big again.
When the West Indies were last in New Zealand, they didn't have a happy time, but Gayle still hit 235 runs in five innings to be comfortably the most successful batsman.
His off-spin bowling is handy too, but if Gayle's thunderous bat produces the goods, entertainment is guaranteed, unless you're a New Zealand bowler.
Ramnaresh Sarwan
The No 3 man is an entertaining strokeplayer, who announced himself with a delightful 158 against Auckland at Eden Park last Sunday in the lead-up game to the test series.
Sarwan has been in the test team since 2000 and his record is impressive. He is a strong cutter, and classy driver.
He made 84 not out on debut against Pakistan in Barbados in May 2000 but it took him 27 tests before his first century.
His 105 was vital to the West Indies chasing down a world record 418 against Australia at Antigua in 2003, the same series in which he stood his ground in an ugly verbal stoush with lippy bowling great Glenn McGrath.
Sarwan has arrived in good test form. His last 10 innings against Sri Lanka and Australia at home produced 586 runs at 58.6.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul
The little Guyanan with the curious stance is in the form of his life. He arrived in New Zealand as the ICC player of the year and his numbers are phenomenal.
Between May 2007 and now, he averaged a Bradmanesque 115, with five 100s and nine 50s.
Chanderpaul's game is about productivity rather than presenting a picture of elegance. It doesn't matter what he looks like, it's what he does for the West Indies that counts. Much is made of his stance, where he faces wide mid-on as the bowler is running in. At the moment the bowlers delivers the ball, Chanderpaul swivels his front leg round so that he is in a conventional batting position to play his shot.
Only Brian Lara (11,912 runs), Viv Richards (8540) and Garry Sobers (8032) stand ahead of Chanderpaul among West Indies test runmakers. He'll haul in Sobers here and Richards is well within reach, but Lara will be beyond him. Still, that's not a bad legacy for an unfashionable but hugely resolute cricketer.
