Kyle Jamieson bagged five wickets in a masterclass of swing bowling as New Zealand struck hard and fast to have the West Indies on the ropes on day two of the second Test in Wellington on Saturday.
The tourists ended the day on the brink of another follow on as they struggled to 124/8, still 336 behind New Zealand’s 460.
Only Jermaine Blackwood provided any serious resistance but he fell late in the day for 69 as Jamieson and Tim Southee wreaked havoc.
Jamieson, the rising star in the Black Caps, got 5/34 for his second five-wicket haul in only his fourth Test.
The Basin Reserve strip continued to provide all the ingredients on a fast bowler’s wish list — pace, bounce and movement — and New Zealand exploited this perfectly.
“The way the ball’s moving we knew if we got it in good enough areas then things would happen,” said the 2.08 metre Jamieson.
“It was just a matter of doing it for long enough and if you do that you tend to get rewarded.”
Unlike the West Indies batsmen, Nicholls and Neil Wagner were able to plunder runs when the New Zealand innings resumed on Saturday morning.
Both scored personal bests, untroubled whether the West Indies bowled full or short, as Nicholls advanced from his overnight 117 to 174 while Wagner finished unbeaten on 66.
The New Zealand pace quartet — Southee, Trent Boult, Neil Wagner and Jamieson — immediately extracted life from the wicket.
They moved the ball in and away and it took the tourists four overs to get their first runs on the board, by which stage Southee had already dismissed Kraigg Brathwaite caught at first slip by Ross Taylor.
After Southee caught and bowled Darren Bravo for seven, Jamieson stepped up with the back-to-back wickets of John Campbell 14 and Roston Chase to have the West Indies at 29/4.
It was familiar territory for Blackwood whose century in the second innings of the first Test started with Windies at 27/4.
He survived Jamieson’s hat-trick ball, and the one after, which both slammed into the pads but vociferous appeals were turned down and replays showed the deliveries swinging away down the leg side.
Southee tied up Shamarh Brooks at the other end and the West Indies faced 27 dot balls before Blackwood broke the drought with a single.
The pair put on 68 for the fifth wicket before falling in quick succession.
Brooks faced 92 deliveries for a stubborn 14 before he shouldered arms to a good length Jamieson ball that jagged back into the stumps.
Southee then accounted for Blackwood with a sharply rising delivery that was fended to Latham in the slips. Jamieson closed the day with the wickets of Jason Holder for nine and Alzarri Joseph without scoring.
Along with Jamieson’s five, Southee has taken 3/29.