WI blown away in a session for 103

Sat, Dec 21, '13

West Indies had lost 16 wickets on the third day in Wellington to lose by an innings. If one thought their standards couldn't plummet any further, one was to be proved wrong on the third day in Hamilton. In far friendlier conditions for batting than Basin Reserve, their entire second innings lasted less than a session. It began after tea, and ended so swiftly that New Zealand had time left to face a couple of overs in their second small chase of the series.

It was supposed to be a test by spin for New Zealand, and Sunil Narine did as well he could, bowling 42.3 overs, 36 of them on the trot, to take 6 for 91. Ross Taylor batted through that examination to make his third hundred of the series and cut New Zealand's first-innings deficit to 18. Both feats, outstanding as they were, were consigned to the sidelines by the depressingly familiar drama that West Indies served up after tea.