00:00Many lauded the West Indies for being able to grind it out against New Zealand, which
00:04saw the men in maroon drawing the opening test in Christchurch.
00:07Set 531 to win, the Windies began on 212-4 on the last day, but closed on 457-6, with
00:16Justin Graves getting 202 not out, and Taylor under Kimar Roach an unbeaten 58, while not
00:21forgetting Shehoff's 140.
00:24Among those praising the Caribbean team was cricket analyst Fazir Mohamed.
00:28Butting the better part of two days, even with all of the caveats associated with New
00:35Zealand, the absence of two of their frontline bowlers, catches dropped, run out, opportunity
00:40missed, wasting their referrals to the technology, and indeed umpiring errors towards the end,
00:49which also proved costly.
00:50Even if you factor all of those things into the discussion, the West Indies batting as
00:56they did to get the largest total in a fourth innings in a five day test match is truly
01:02a remarkable effort.
01:03Mohamed acknowledges that the players have the potential to shine, but doesn't expect
01:08such a thing to happen all the time.
01:10As such, he does not want to get carried away, but instead enjoy the moment since Caribbean
01:16fans know what heartbreak means over the years.
01:18At the start of the year, the West Indies had a famous series levelling victory in Pakistan,
01:24but thereafter lost the next five consecutive test matches, including that infamous 27 All
01:30Out against Australia at Sabina Park.
01:33Last year, the West Indies started the year with an historic victory, day-night match at
01:38the Gabba over Australia with Shamar Joseph, starring with that seven-wicket hole.
01:43But then, they went on to England and were thrashed in three test matches and were pretty indifferent
01:49for the rest of the year.
01:51Mohamed says it's left to be seen what the hosts have to offer in terms of the bowling since
01:56two players were injured.
01:57Whatever the case, the cricket analyst says the key for the Windies is to be consistent,
02:03since New Zealand is like a fortress for the Black Caps.
02:07Winning a test series in New Zealand has always been difficult for the West Indies, even at
02:12their strongest, even with their most powerful teams, they found it difficult to prevail in
02:17New Zealand.
02:18So, it's going to be tough for the remaining test matches to come in this series and that's
02:22why achieving something like the consistency expected of test quality batting is so very
02:29important.
02:30That's why the performance of Kim R. Roach was such an inspiration.
02:34The second test in Wellington starts Tuesday at 6pm TNT time.
02:39Now, why are these teams export?
02:44This is a marathon effort by number 6.
Comments