• Downloads  
  • Desktop Alerts
  • Toolbars
  • Wallpapers
  • Screensavers

New Zealand v West Indies, 1st Test, Auckland, 5th day

Bond five-for seals New Zealand win

The Bulletin by George Binoy

March 13, 2006

New Zealand 275 (Styris 103*, Astle 51) and 272 (McCullum 74, Gayle 4-71) beat West Indies 257 (Sarwan 62, Bravo 59) and 263 (Gayle 82, Ganga 95, Bond 5-69) by 27 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Shane Bond completed his five-for by taking the final wicket of the match © Getty Images

After the tug-of-war of the first four days, New Zealand ensured that there would be no final West Indies comeback by taking the last two wickets for 17 runs to go up 1-0 in the series. Shane Bond, the architect of New Zealand's final surge, fittingly took the last wicket and bagged a five-wicket haul in his first home Test since December 2002.

New Zealand began the day with two tailenders to dismiss and 44 runs to defend. Daniel Vettori prised out Ian Bradshaw, caught by Stephen Fleming at bat-pad. Bond followed up by bowling Jerome Taylor, who had struck two boundaries off Vettori to give a flutter of hope to the dressing-room, off the inside edge to end the match in the tenth over of the day. This 27-run win was New Zealand's narrowest in terms of runs, beating their 40-run victory against South Africa at Port Elizabeth in 1962.

Bond was adjudged Man-of-the Match for his matchwinning spell but New Zealand's win was a result of several fightbacks over the course of the match. Scott Styris bailed them out of a first-innings debacle with a hundred and Brendon McCullum staged a recovery with Vettori in the second before Bond's onslaught sealed the result.

For West Indies, it was a familiar tale of what could have been. They had the perfect opportunity to win their first overseas Test, other than in Bangladesh or Zimbabwe, since beating England at Birmingham in 2000. But every time they wrested the advantage, their inability to build on it and shut New Zealand out of the game let them down. However, they can take heart from Ian Bradshaw's performance on debut. With Jerome Taylor unable to bowl more than nine overs in the match because of a hamstring injury, Bradshaw shouldered the extra burden and bowled 57.1 overs, sometimes unchanged through an entire session, and picked up six wickets. In the second innings, Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga showed, during a 148-run opening partnership, that the Bond threat could be overcome. However, the middle order didn't follow their lead and wilted against Bond's pace, collapsing spectacularly to a 27-run defeat.

How they were out

Ian Bradshaw c Fleming b Vettori 10 (251 for 9)
Bat-pad catch to silly point

Jerome Taylor b Bond 13 (263 all out)
Played on trying to cut

George Binoy is editorial assistant of Cricinfo

© Cricinfo