West Indies’ 4th-inning marvel force New Zealand for draw:Justin Greaves, Kemar Roach’s record historic 400-ball stand in 1st Test match

With a record 7th wicket stand between Justin Greaves and Kemar Roach, West Indies ended the first Test against New Zealand with a draw. Greaves struck an epic unbeaten 202, forcing the Black Caps to shake hands with the West Indies batters who came to chase down a gigantic 531 total in the fourth innings at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval on Saturday. Notably, the same side that ended the first Test match vs NZ in a draw, was bundled out for 167 in its second innings. West Indies was at the score of 457/6 when New Zealand decided not to stretch the match further. Justin Greaves historic 4th inning knock against New Zealand Justin Greaves batted for almost 9.5 hours, first in a 196-run partnership with Shai Hope, who made 140 before being only of only two West Indies batters dismissed on the final day. Then there was Kemar Roach, who finished 58 not out and faced a whopping 233 balls to add a half-century to his five-wicket bag in the New Zealand second innings. After hitting the highest score in fourth innings since Tests were limited to five-day play, Greaves said after the match: Resilient is the word we’ve thrown around in the dressing room a lot, so for me to be there at the end of the day was really important. Anything for the team at the end of the day, Greaves said. A battle of grit with New Zealand on the losing end New Zealand missed the sharp frontline seamers Matt Henry and Nathan Smith, who could toil throughout the day by taking six wickets. Meanwhile, they had bench seamers, along with a spin all-rounder and a part-time spinner. With the fit pace armoury of Jacob Duffy and Zak Foulkes, both playing in their first test at home, New Zealand tried to go for a win against the West Indies. Also Read: Bhaskar reaches Dubai but Asia Cup trophy still missing:ACC office locked, 68 days on with no clarity, is BCCI’s campaign on hold? New Zealand seemed poised to complete a convincing first-test victory on the fourth day when, after setting the West Indies a mammoth total to win, it had the tourists 72-4 early in the second session. However, Greaves and Roach gave only a couple of chances to the field in all on the final day. Greaves faced 388 balls in his marathon knock that included 19 fours. Shai Hope (140) also played a crucial knock, while Kemar Roach chipped in with a gutsy 58 not out to frustrate New Zealand. New Zealand exhausted its reviews early in the day and paid the price when an lbw appeal and an appeal for a catch behind against Roach were both declined by the umpires and shown to be out on replay. How West Indies turned poor first-inning performance into victory? New Zealand had the upper hand in the match from the end of the first innings when it dismissed the West Indies for 167 in reply to its 231. Kane Williamson top-scored with 52 in New Zealand’s first innings in his first test since 2024. Hope made 56 and Tagenarine Chanderpaul 52 in the West Indies reply. Hope’s outstanding performance was elevated by the fact that he battled an eye infection in both innings and had to bat in sunglasses. The West Indies resumed on the final day at 212-4 with Hope 111 and Greaves already 55. Hope and wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach both were out close to lunch, but those were the last wickets to fall in the day. New Zealand and the West Indies both took four points, their first points in the new World Test Championship cycle. The second test begins in Wellington on Wednesday.