West Indies' Shivnarine Chanderpaul (left), Denesh Ramdin and Chris Gayle (right) with the trophy they shared with New Zealand after drawing the series on the fifth day of the second international cricket Test at McLean Park, Napier, New Zealand, yesterday. - AP
NAPIER, New Zealand (CMC):
The decisive second Test between New Zealand and West Indies finished in a tame draw here yesterday, after neither team could produce the brilliance needed on the final day to carve out a result.
Set 312 to win after the West Indies were bowled out minutes before lunch for 375 at McLean Park, the Kiwi batsmen could not muster the sustained assault needed and could only reach 220 for five when play was called off with nine overs left in the day's play.
Similarly, the West Indies bowlers were ragged and lacked the penetration necessary to eke out a victory and score their first series win over New Zealand in 12 years.
The series finished drawn after the first Test in Dunedin last week also finished in a stalemate.
The match appeared poised for an interesting finish after West Indies, resuming at 278 for seven, added a further 97 in the first session, with captain Chris Gayle narrowly missing out on a double century with 197.
All told, he spent just over 8-1/2 hours at the crease, faced 396 balls and slammed 20 fours and seven sixes.
EVENTUAL SCORE
Daren Powell struck 22 from 37 balls with two fours and a six and Fidel Edwards occupied the crease for 86 balls in scoring 20, to spur the Windies to their eventual score.
Half-centuries from Jamie How (54) and Jesse Ryder (59 not out) then set up New Zealand nicely to mount a serious run pursuit in the final session, but Brendon McCullum's controversial dismissal signalled the end of all hostilities.
PROVED CRUCIAL
His dismissal at 203 for five changed the whole tempo of the innings and with 17 runs trickling from the next 41 deliveries the result was all but inevitable.
Earlier, Gayle's 70-run, eighth-icket stand with Edwards proved crucial, as it denied the Black Caps the early success they desperately craved in the first session.
Gayle was uncharacteristically sedate early on but exploded in the day's eighth over sent down by O'Brien, smashing the lively pacer for four boundaries as he raced to 168.
Successive off-side boundaries off left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori carried him into the 170s and when medium pacer James Franklin was introduced, Gayle greeted him with a straight driven four and pulled six over square leg, off the first two balls of the new spell.
Just when he seemed set for a double century, he was out in very unfortunate circumstances. Attempting to sweep off-spinner Jeetan Patel, he under-edged the delivery onto wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum's boot and the 'keeper quickly grasped the catch as the ball rebounded into the air.
His dismissal did not spark the expected decline as Edwards added a further 21 for the ninth wicket with Powell before he gave Patel his fifth wicket of the innings.
Franklin claimed two for 61 while Vettori finished with two for 91.
WEST INDIES 1st innings 307 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 126 not out; Iain O'Brien 6-75)
NEW ZEALAND 371 (Tim McIntosh 136; Fidel Edwards 7-87)
WEST INDIES 2nd Innings
(overnight 278 for seven)
C Gayle c wkp McCullum b Patel 197
S Chattergoon c Taylor b Patel 25
R Sarwan lbw b Vettori 1
X Marshall c Taylor b Patel 18
S Chanderpaul c & b Patel 0
B Nash c How b Franklin 65
+D Ramdin c Flynn b Franklin 6
J Taylor lbw b O'Brien 8
F Edwards c Taylor b Patel 20
D Powell lbw b Vettori 22
S Benn not out 4
Extras (lb2, w1, nb6) 9
TOTAL (all out, 145 overs) 375
Fall of wickets: 1-58 (Chattergoon), 2-61 (Sarwan), 3-106 (Marshall), 4-106 (Chanderpaul), 5-230 (Nash), 6-252 (Ramdin), 7-272 (Taylor), 8-342 (Gayle), 9-363 (Edwards), 10-375 (Powell).
Bowling: O'Brien 24-3-90-1 (nb4, w1), Mills 6-1-21-0 (nb1), Patel 46-16-110-5, Vettori 52-21-91-2 (nb1), Franklin 17-3-61-2.
NEW ZEALAND 2nd Innings
T McIntosh lbw b Taylor 3
J How c Gayle b Edwards 54
D Flynn run out 33
R Taylor lbw b Benn 46
J Ryder not out 59
+B McCullum c wkp Ramdin b Taylor 19
J Franklin not out 2
Extras (w2, nb2) 4
TOTAL (5 wkts, 51 overs) 220
Did not bat: D Vettori, K Mills, I O'Brien, J Patel.
Fall of wickets: 1-8 (McIntosh), 2-62 (Flynn), 3-96 (How), 4-170 (Taylor), 5-203 (McCullum).
Bowling: Taylor 13-2-67-2, Powell 5-0-30-0 (w1), Edwards 11-0-46-1 (nb2, w1), Benn 17-2-54-1, Gayle 5-0-23-0.
Result: Match drawn.
Series: Two-match series drawn 0-0.
Man-of-the-Match: Chris Gayle
Toss: West Indies.
Umpires: Rudi Koertzen, Amiesh Saheba; TV - Mark Benson.