The West Indies haven’t had a Test win against New Zealand in New Zealand in 30 years. Not since a drawn first match and an innings-and-322-run victory in the second handed them a 1-0 series win in 1995. Ahead of Monday evening’s start to their latest clash, Captain Roston Chase is desperate for a change in fortunes, hoping it will place his team on “the good side of history” at the end of the contest.
“[Winning] would mean a lot,” Chase said on the eve of the first Test. “We haven't won here (New Zealand) in a very long time. We don't want to be on the bad side of history all the time.”
The West Indies come into the series having lost all five of their games in the current 2025-27 cycle of the ICC World Test Championship. Meanwhile, this will be the first contest of the cycle for the former champions.
Beneath the determined optimism from the Windies skipper is the resignation that his team starts as justified underdogs. As a result, they have a lower starting point than the Kiwis.