NELSON, New Zealand, CMC – West Indies A bowled with discipline, but half-centuries from Michael Bracewell and Tim Seifert gave New Zealand A the edge in their second “Test” yesterday.
Left-arm spinner Fabian Allen was the pick of the Windies A bowlers, taking two for 39 from 15.4 overs, before he injured himself fielding a delivery off his own bowling in the final hour.
The visitors, however, failed to make deep inroads into the New Zealanders’ batting, and Bracewell, not out on 93, and Seifert, with 60, anchored the hosts to 264 for four in their first innings at the close on the opening day of the four-day, first-class match at Saxton Oval, after they chose to bat.
Play began 45 minutes late because of a ground delay, but former West Indies Under-19 pacer Jayden Seales, on his first-class debut, made the breakthrough for the visitors once things started, when he had opener Glenn Phillips caught at gully for 13 inside the first hour.
For 1 ¾ hours either side of lunch, Windies A – being led by wicketkeeper/batsman Nicholas Pooran for this match – failed to add to that early success, after Mark Chapman came to the crease and with Seifert carried New Zealand A to 78 for one at the interval.
After the break, the hunt for wickets continued for West Indies A and snatched two before the New Zealanders reached 160 for three at tea.
Keemo Paul, whose all-round skills were not required by the senior Windies team in Wellington and flew over on Thursday for this match, struck in the seventh over after lunch, when he bowled Chapman for 45, ending a 70-run stand for the second wicket with Seifert.
The Caribbean side met further defiance, when Bracewell joined Seifert and they comfortably put on 51 for the third wicket.
But Allen broke the stand, when he had Seifert caught at backward point about 20 minutes before tea.
After tea, West Indies A continued to bowl steadily, and Allen struck about 35 minutes after the break, when left-hander Jimmy Neesham was caught at deep mid-wicket for 10.
Any hopes of the Windies A bowlers bagging a few more wickets before stumps was put to bed, when Rachin Ravindra, not out on 30, came to crease and batted close to an hour and a half to put on 77 – unbroken – for the fifth wicket with Bracewell to steady the ship for the Blackcaps reserves.
West Indies A trail 0-1 in the two-match series, after they crashed to an innings and 143 runs defeat in the first “Test”, which ended this past Saturday at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui.
The visitors made three changes to their line-up from that match with Seales, Paul and off-spinner Rahkeem Cornwall, another member of the senior squad who flew into the city for the match, replacing injured pacers Raymon Reifer and Oshane Thomas, and senior team international Test newcomer, Joshua da Silva.
