Wellington [New Zealand], December 12 : West Indies captain Roston Chase urged his batters to turn their starts into substantial scores and take responsibility for undoing the efforts of a disciplined bowling unit after West Indies faced a nine-wicket defeat by New Zealand in the second Test of the series on Friday, as per ESPNcricinfo.
West Indies were 49/2 in the third innings and looked set to give New Zealand a substantial target to chase in the fourth. However, a batting collapse saw them all out for just 128, with only four players in the lineup scoring in double digits.
West Indies managed just 205 in their first innings of the Wellington Test, but then held the hosts to 278. Despite improved batting conditions in their second innings, they crumbled for only 128 and ultimately lost by nine wickets.
Chase described the loss as especially painful, noting that the team had created a promising opportunity before falling apart, and he rejected any suggestions that the conditions were responsible.
"We were in a good position up to this morning, even though in the first innings, we thought that we should have got some more runs. A number of batsmen getting some starts, but we didn't really convert into anything big. We left some runs up there in the first innings, and we thought that we would have gotten those runs in the second innings, but it didn't happen. So very disappointing for us after the bowlers really put up their hands and brought us back into the game," Chase said in the post-match press conference, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Chase said he felt the pitch was still playable and not as difficult as in the first Christchurch Test. He believed the team made key mistakes at crucial moments, which prevented them from regaining control of the game.
"I still thought that the pitch was one that we could score runs on. Personally, I thought it was not as tough as the first game. I thought the first innings in [the first Test in] Christchurch, the ball was doing a whole lot, but I didn't think that was the case here. I just thought we just made some mistakes at some crucial points in the game, and we just never really got our foot back into the game today," Chase said.
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