Shai Hope's unbeaten 116 and Justin Greaves' gritty half-century kept West Indies in contention to win the first Test of the three-match series against New Zealand. The Kiwis looked to be in-charge of the game after handing the visitors with a mammoth target of 531, however injuries to three of their players led to a fightback from the Windies.
West Indies had a great start to the day as they got rid of Will Young in the first few overs of the day thanks to Jayden Seales. The duo of Michael Bracewell and Zakary Foulkes tried to stitch a partnership, but Kemar Roach clinched the former's wicket for 24 runs, restricting the Kiwis to 448/6. Roach would go on to rack up a five-wicket haul with the wickets of both Matt Henry and Jacob Duffy before New Zealand decided to declare their innings on 466/8.
However, the Black Caps were struck with two big blows as pacer Nathan Smith and wicketkeeper Tom Blundell sustained injuries. While the former had sustained a side strain injury, the latter had pulled up his hamstring. Smith is expected to not participate in the final day of the match while things aren't looking great for Blundell either as he didn't even come out to bat during New Zealand's second innings. In his place, captain Tom Latham had to take up the wicketkeeping duties.
Regardless of the setback, the hosts had a strong start as West Indies lost their first three wickets for just 55 runs with Duffy clinching two and Bracewell chipping in with one. Skipper Roston Chase would also depart cheaply for four runs as New Zealand looked to be in complete control of the game.
Third injury of the day for New Zealand
However, soon after Matt Henry would also have to leave the field due to pain in his right calf. He later went to a hospital for scans. This was another massive blow for the Black Caps as now they had injuries to two of their pacers. With Henry not featuring at all in the third session, the likes of Duffy, Bracewell and Zakary Foulkes had to bowl a big chunk of the side's overs and the same is expected to happen on Day 5 as well.
West Indies' impressive fightback
On the other hand, the injuries benefitted West Indies a lot as the duo of Hope and Greaves went on to form a mammoth partnership. While the former went on to score his fourth century in the format, the latter also supported him well and brought up a valiant half-century by the end of the day.
Hope remained unbeaten on 116 and Greaves also finished the day unbeaten on 54 as West Indies ended up at 212/4 at stumps. They are still 319 runs behind the target, but with two New Zealand pacers getting injured, the visitors may fancy their chances of coming out victorious on the fifth and final day.