The West Indies made history in New Zealand on Saturday, achieving the highest fourth-innings score since the inception of five-day Test cricket. Batting all-rounder Justin Greaves led the Windies with a career-best score of 202 not out, threatening to chase down the impossible target of 531. Greaves, a right-hander from Barbados, became just the seventh player in Test history to record a double hundred in the fourth innings of a match. The right-hander from Barbados becomes just the seventh player in Test history to record a double hundred in the fourth innings of a match.
He was aptly supported by pace bowler Kemar Roach (58*), who himself also hit his best-ever innings from 86 Test matches. His gruelling 282-minute knock saw him face 233 balls on Day 5 on a very flat Christchurch wicket. Ultimately the visitors finished 74 runs short of the highest fourth-innings chase in Test cricket — a record they already hold after they chased down Australia’s target of 418 back in 2003. Only England’s 5/654 in the infamous ‘Timeless Test’ against South Africa back in 1939 is larger than the Windies’ in the fourth innings, a match that quite literally forced the format to be revised down from timeless, to no longer than five days.
The Kiwis went wicketless after lunch, though Roach was handed a huge lifeline by the on-field umpire in the 143rd over, having been given not out for a caught behind appeal. Replays showed he had indeed hit the ball, leaving the hosts hapless, having already used their three reviews for the innings unsuccessfully. After the 142nd over, broadcast vision showed both Bracewell and stand-in wicketkeeper Tom Latham approach the umpire, with audio revealing one said: “Come on Wharfy (Alex Wharf), get your bloody finger up, mate.”
Roach, 37, became the fourth-oldest player in a Test to record both a five-wicket haul and half-century in the same game, claiming 5/78 in the Kiwis’ second innings. Earlier in the innings, Shai Hope also registered a ton, before being dismissed for 140 of the bowling of Jacob Duffy. New Zealand off-spinner Michael Bracewell bowled an eye-watering 55 of the West Indies’ 163.3 overs in the fourth dig, while pace bowler Jacob Duffy picked up eight wickets across the match from 60.4 overs — 43 of which were in the second innings.
