West Indies hope Christmas comes early in must-win New Zealand Test / Photo: Marty MELVILLE - AFP
West Indies hope Christmas comes early in must-win New Zealand Test
Captain Roston Chase hopes that a bonding session over an early Christmas dinner will give the West Indies the festive spirit to beat New Zealand in the must-win third and final Test starting Thursday at Mount Maunganui.
The visitors trail 1-0 after being thrashed by nine wickets last week in Wellington and have not won in their previous seven Tests.
The first Test at Christchurch was drawn.
"Guys had some time to reflect," Chase said on Wednesday of the heavy defeat at the Basin Reserve.
"We had a bit of a chat and we had a team bonding session, a Christmas dinner. Just enjoying each other's company."
The players ran a Secret Santa, with Chase receiving an Adidas tracksuit and a blender.
"My guy was Jayden Seales and I bought him a Prada cologne," said Chase, getting into the Christmas spirit.
The weather has not been quite in keeping with the buoyant mood.
Heavy rain has battered the ground in recent days, hampering preparation of a pitch that usually suits spinners.
Chase called the unusually green Mount Maunganui wicket "a bit shocking" after an initial assessment.
"Looking at it I don't think there will be much spin," Chase said.
"I think seam will be more dangerous on this wicket."
Fast bowler Ojay Shields will miss the Test through injury, with batter Alick Athanaze returning to the XI in his place.
Chase said he backs his four remaining seam options to do the job, and that he is prepared to bowl more overs of spin if the pitch does indeed take turn.
He'll also lean heavier on all-rounder Justin Greaves, who Chase suggested could be a "complainer" at times, but always gave his all with the ball.
Greaves scored 202 not out in the first Test to rescue the West Indies from defeat.
"He will say stuff and act like he doesn't want to put in that extra effort," said Chase.
"But when he gets there and I call on him, he's always more than willing to work."
- Question marks -
New Zealand captain Tom Latham said his team are yet to settle on their line-up, with the same question marks about the pitch.
Either 37-year-old spinner Ajaz Patel or 24-year-old uncapped seamer Kristian Clarke will play, depending on the shades of green Latham sees on Thursday morning.
"The games that we've played here in the past, we've tended to see that spin's played a little bit more of a part than what it has around the country at different venues," he said.
"So we are going to have a look at it in the morning whether we do go with that extra spin option."
Latham said he was confident in either player, as he praised the experience Patel brought to the squad and the form Clarke had shown in first-class cricket.
Clarke has a first-class bowling average of 32 and scored his first List A century this season.
Patel has 85 Test wickets, including being just the third person in Test history to claim 10 wickets in an innings -- 10-119 against India in Mumbai in 2021.
Patel has never taken a wicket in New Zealand.
F.Busch--BVZ
