5 Talking points from New Zealand's innings win over West Indies
Maiden Test centuries from Colin de Grandhomme and debutant Tom Blundell coupled with Neil Wagner's fiery first innings helped New Zealand beat West Indies by an innings and 67 runs on day four of the first Test at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.
Wagner's seven-for on day one but the hosts in command of the game and that was only strengthened after some stoic resistance from the lower middle-order, which helped the Black Caps cross 500. A massive deficit was simply too much for the West Indies, who were bowled out for 319 on day four and succumbed to another innings defeat.
Here are the major talking points from the first Test:
West Indies' collapse costs them
Losing the toss and being asked to bat is never easy, especially in New Zealand when the ball does a fair bit early in the day. But, the visitors got lucky as the ball wasn't doing anything for either Trent Boult or Matt Henry. Such was the conditions that the Windies openers quickly put on a fifty partnership.
But things began to unravel quickly after that. Kraigg Brathwaite departed with the score on 59 and then from 75/1, the visitors collapsed to 105/9 losing eight wickets for just 30 runs as they were the latest to fall victim to Wagner's bouncers. However, they didn't help their own cause by getting hit-wicket and losing the plot on a pitch that was still very good for batting.
Only 29-run partnership for the last wicket helped them inch closer to 150 but that was never going to be enough and so it proved.