West Indies grabbed two late New Zealand wickets to reduce them to 139 for two at the close, giving them the sniff of a last-day victory in the second and final Test match here yesterday. Batting steadily towards a series-winning draw and drawing ahead of the West Indies at 117 for none, New Zealand first lost opener Lou Vincent for 54 and then captain Stephen Fleming for five just 16 balls later. The day closed with New Zealand 42 runs ahead with eight wickets in hand. With his pacemen getting no joy, Hooper called on occasional off-spinner Ramnaresh Sarwan, who bowled two very slow deliveries before pushing through a 100 kph yorker that bamboozled Vincent and clean bowled him for 54. SCOREBOARD New Zealand (1st innings): 373 West Indies (1st innings): C Gayle c Hart b Bond 204, W Hinds b Bond 10, R Sarwan run out 39, B Lara c Hart b Styris 48, C Hooper lbw b Bond 17, S Chanderpaul c Fleming b Bond 51, R Jacobs c Styris b Butler 17, M Nagamootoo c Hart b Styris 32, P Collins lbw b Vettori 14, A Sanford c Butler b Bond 12, C Cuffy not out 0, Extras: (b-4, lb-2, w-5, nb-15) 26; Total: 470 Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-128, 3-204, 4-242, 5-385, 6-394, 7-441, 8-448, 9-470 Bowling: Bond 30.1-7-104-5, Butler 21-4-83-1, Styris 25-3-88-2, Vettori 41-9-1341, Astle 6-2-15-0, Harris 15-4-40-0 New Zealand (2nd innings): M Richardson not out 69, L Vincent b Sarwan 54, S Fleming c Lara b Hooper 5, C Harris not out 6, Extras: (lb-4, nb-1) 5; Total: (For two wickets) 139 Fall of wickets: 1-117, 2-132 Bowling: Collins 12-6-16-0, Cuffy 7-2-12-0, Nagamootoo 19-8-31-0, Sanford 11-2-24-0, Hooper 14-3-37-1, Gayle 5-2-6-0, Sarwan 3-0-9-1 Just 16 balls later Hooper persuaded Fleming to play his bat too far in front of his body and he edged the ball to Brian Lara for five: New Zealand were looking nervous at an effective score of 35 for two. The match ended with fielders clustered around the bat but opener Mark Richardson, who scored 95 in the first innings, was 69 not out accompanied by Chris Harris, on six. West Indies were bowled out in their first innings for 470 just before lunch, losing five wickets in the first session of the day as they sought to build a big lead over New Zealand’s first innings 373. The West Indies’ 97-run first innings lead was gradually whittled away by Kiwi openers Mark Richardson and Lou Vincent, who batted slowly through one and a half sessions in a 117-run stand. The day started with the West Indies on 394 for five and looking to score around 550 to try to force a last-day victory and level the two-match series after New Zealand won the first Test in Barbados by 204 runs. Earlier, West Indian wicketkeeper Ridley Jacobs and spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo put on 46 for the seventh wicket, with the spinner smashing three sixes in a delightful cameo innings of 32 before Jacobs fell to Ian Butler and Nagamootoo was caught behind from the bowling of Scott Styris. Styris ended with two for 88 to add to the century he scored on his Test debut for his country. Dismissed shortly before lunch for 470, a lead of 93, New Zealand started solidly and the West Indies seamers had little success on the flat and low wicket. Vincent was dropped twice when he was on two, however, Gayle dropping him at third slip and Hooper at second slip. At tea New Zealand were 74 for none and the run rate picked up in the first hour after tea as the tourists overhauled the West Indies first innings score.
