Holder resists to delay New Zealand's victory march

Jason Holder resisted New Zealand and kept them from a victory within three days with a stoic half-century and led West Indies to 244 for 6 when stumps were drawn at the Basin Reserve, prematurely due to bad light. After being asked to follow on, West Indies will be satisfied with the stomach they showed in the second innings after a meek surrender in the first to be skittled out for 131, conceding a 329-run lead.

Led up top by John Campbell's half-century, with Shamarh Brooks for company in the middle, West Indies were successful in keeping New Zealand hunting without giving them too many chances. Although they lost wickets in clumps when they did, it was the partnerships in the middle of those that made the difference. The Campbell-Brooks association fetched 89 runs and the da Silva-Holder one, 74 as West Indies stayed alive in the second Test, albeit only just, when bad light stopped play, trailing by 85 runs.

It was no surprise that Holder and da Silva's wagon wheel showed runs predominantly coming on the leg-side. New Zealand's persistence with the short ball and back-of-length deliveries had the pair pulling almost every other delivery. The pulls reached the boundaries a fair few times with seven fours and two sixes in Holder's unbeaten 60, while da Silva was happy to have the best seat in the house as an able ally to his skipper with 25 in their seventh-wicket stand that wore down New Zealand's pacers the day progressed with batting seeming to have gotten a lot easier.

After the Campbell-Brooks stand kept New Zealand at bay, the hosts snatched back momentum with three quick wickets after the resilient stand. Campbell had scored most of his runs square of the wicket on both sides to get to his second Test half-century. He took on anything short and drove through the covers for eight boundaries, while Brooks had four in his 36. Neil Wagner posed questions consistently, beating the batsmen a fair few times, but was unfortunate not to get among the wickets. There was a chance when they appealed for a leg-before that was turned down that would've had to be overturned had New Zealand decided to review with three reds, but Wagner was eventually rewarded when he forced Brooks to edge a delivery angling in with some extra bounce.

Campbell and Kraigg Brathwaite came out with an attacking mindset in West Indies' second dig after a poor outing in the first. They put on 37 runs together not letting the bowlers settle in with their lengths. With Kyle Jamieson and Tim Southee returning respective five-wicket hauls in the first innings, Boult got among the wickets with two wickets in an over that sent back Brathwaite and Darren Bravo.

Jamieson then got Roston Chase once again for a duck, who copped a pair in the Test, and followed it up with the big wicket of Campbell, ending his resistance as the batsman dragged on one that angled in. Boult returned to test the batsmen with some high-quality bowling, despite going for almost five an over today. Boult, however, was rewarded with the important wicket of Jermaine Blackwood, who fell soon after Tea with his middle stump knocked out, bringing Holder and da Silva together.

It had taken new Zealand 20 minutes earlier in the day to scalp West Indies' last two wickets. Da Silva was left contemplating whether to leave or play an outswinger before Shannon Gabriel was cleaned up as Southee returned a five-wicket haul alongside Jamieson. It was the first time since 2014 that all 10 wickets were taken by New Zealand right-arm bowlers in an innings.

Although West Indies have done well to put on a better show in the second innings, New Zealand are just four wickets away from a sweep in the two-match series.

Brief scores: New Zealand 460 (Will Young 43, Henry Nicholls 174, Daryl Mitchell 42, Neil Wagner 66*; Shannon Gabriel 3-93, Alzarri Joseph 3-109, Chemar Holder 2-110, Roston Chase 2-54) lead West Indies 131 (Jermaine Blackwood 69; Tim Southee 5-32, Kyle Jamieson 5-34) & 244/6 (John Campbell 68, Shamarh Brooks 36, Jason Holder 60*; Trent Boult 3-75, Kyle Jamieson 2-43) by 85 runs.