Related Links : New Zealand’s Tour of West Indies 2012 : Scorecard of West Indies Vs New Zealand, 1st Test at North Sound
Hosts West Indies won the 1st Digicel Test against New Zealand by 9 wickets at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, Antigua.
Batting first after winning the toss, New Zealand scratched around two days to come up with a decent first innings total of 351 in 129.1 overs. Opener Martin Guptill top scored for the Kiwis with 97 (from 249 balls with 14 fours and a six). His fellow opener Daniel Flynn with 45 and Skipper Ross Taylor with 45 were the other chief contributors for the Black Caps. For the West Indies, Sunil Narine toiled hard to take 5 for 132 in 43 overs. Fast bowlers Ravi Rampaul and Kemar Roach took a couple of wickets each.
West Indies in reply pounded the Kiwi attack with a strong opening stand of 254 between Chris Gayle (150 from 206 balls with 17 fours and 4 sixes) and Kieran Powell (134 from 288 balls with 22 fours and a six). Three more batsmen – Assad Fudadin (55), Narsingh Deonarine (79) and Skipper Darren Sammy (50) scored half centuries to help West Indies to a lead of 171 runs. The hosts were bowled out for 522 in 163.3 overs. For the Kiwis, Chris Martin took three wickets while Doug Bracewell and part-time off spinner Kane Williamson took two wickets each.
New Zealand in their second innings did well to close the penultimate day of the match at 199 for 3 in 64 overs with an overall lead of 28 runs. However, on the final day, the Kiwis crumbled under pressure to be bowled out for just 272 in 105.2 overs. Brendon McCullum with 84 (from 139 balls with 8 fours) and Martin Guptill with 67 (from 151 balls with 7 fours) batted well for the Kiwis who left West Indies with a small target of 102. Kemar Roach claimed 5 for 60 and Sunil Narine once again worked hard, bowling 42 overs to take three wickets.
West Indies got to the target in 19.3 overs losing just the one wicket. Chris Gayle powered them in the run chase smashing 64* (from just 49 balls with 8 fours and 2 sixes). The Player of the Match was surprisingly Sunil Narine who bowled 85 overs to take a total of 8 wickets in the match.