New Zealand beat West Indies to win 3rd test by 323 runs

Jacob Duffy took 5-42 as New Zealand bowled out the West Indies for 138 on a deteriorating fifth-day pitch to win the third test by 323 runs on Monday and take the three-match series 2-0.

Duffy surpassed Richard Hadlee’s New Zealand record of 80 wickets in a calendar year and finished the series with 23 wickets at an average of 15.4 including three five-wicket hauls. He bowled more than 154 overs as the workhorse of the New Zealand attack in the three tests.

“I saw that list at lunchtime and there were some cool names on there, so to be up there on any sort of list with those sort of names was special,” Duffy, who was voted Player of the Series, said of his bowling record.

New Zealand’s win ended a series in which both teams had to cope with significantly depleted pace attacks and in which a slew of batting records fell.

The West Indies were without Shamar Joseph and Alzarri Joseph. Duffy became New Zealand’s pace spearhead after injuries sidelined Matt Henry, Will O’Rourke, Ben Sears, Kyle Jamieson, Nathan Smith and Blair Tickner.

The third test was a feast for statisticians. Devon Conway made 227 and Tom Latham 137 in a 323-run opening stand in New Zealand’s first innings of 575-8 declared. Conway then made 100 and Latham 101 in a partnership of 192 in the second innings before New Zealand declared at 306-2, leaving West Indies a target of 462 to win after being bowled out for 420 in the first innings.

Conway was the 10th test player and first New Zealander to score a double-century and a century in the same match and he and Latham were the first openers to score centuries in both innings of a test.

Latham and Conway accumulated 515 runs across two innings, a record total for an opening pair. Latham also followed his father, Rod, by featuring in opening partnerships of more than 100 in both innings of a test.

“I don’t think it’s sunk in yet. It will take some time for me to get my head around what happened in this test match,” Conway said, “but I’m really glad we got the win.”

New Zealand faced some criticism for the lateness of its declarations in both innings on a pitch at Bay Oval which had been relatively docile for the first three days. Cracks had appeared and plates had begun to form by Day 4 and on the last day, the ball had begun to bounce irregularly.

Last DayStill, Brandon King and John Campbell survived 16 overs and scored 43 before stumps on the fourth day, leaving New Zealand needing to take all 10 wickets on the last day to win. Campbell and King then batted through the first hour Monday to frustrate the New Zealand bowlers. King reached his half-century from 63 balls.

But both openers were out within five balls - King for 67 and Campbell for a dogged 16 from 105 balls - and that provoked a slump that saw five wickets fall before lunch. Duffy took three of those, two with deliveries that lifted uncomfortably.

Duffy then dismissed Roston Chase after lunch with a ferocious ball that reared to shoulder height from just short of a length, giving Glenn Phillips his third catch of the day.

Shai Hope batted 78 balls for 3 runs and was out lbw, kicking away a full toss on his off stump to give Ajaz Patel his third wicket of the day. Patel had 85 career wickets coming into this test, which was his first in New Zealand for five years. His first wicket of the match was his first-ever wicket in a test in New Zealand.

Kemar Roach (4) batted with a hamstring injury and was bowled by a ball from Phillips which turned and took the inside edge.

Anderson Phillip and Tevin Imlach held out for 14 overs until Phillip (10) fell lbw to Rachin Ravindra. Duffy returned to claim his fifth wicket and end the innings after 80.3 overs when he bowled Jayden Seales.

Close seriesThe West Indies were competitive for long periods in all three tests. In the first test, after being set 531 to win, Justin Greaves batted 564 minutes for 202 and the West Indies batted 163.3 overs to reach 457-6 and draw the match. That was the highest fourth-innings score since tests were limited to five days. Kemar Roach batted almost five hours for 58.

Latham made 145 and Rachin Ravindra 176 in New Zealand’s second innings of 466-8 declared. The second test, which New Zealand won by nine wickets, was a contrast in which Mitch Hay’s 61 on debut was the highest score for both teams.

The West Indies made 205 and 128 and New Zealand made 278-9 and 57-1, chasing 55 to win in the fifth innings. Duffy took 5-38 as New Zealand bowled the West Indies in 46.2 overs in their second innings to set up the easy run chase.