Shai Hope and Justin Greaves built a solid partnership, keeping the visitors' chances alive in the 1st Test against New Zealand. Thanks to their crucial 140-run stand for the 4th wicket, the Windies closed Day 4 on a positive note, heading into the final day needing X runs for victory.
On day 3, the hosts had pulled the momentum to their side through the outstanding centuries from Tom Latham and Rachin Ravindra, who scored 145 and 176 respectively on day 3.
Following their dismissal, no other batter could really make an impact. New Zealand were forced to declare at 466/8 due to the injuries of Tom Blundell and Nathan Smith, leaving a mammoth target of 531 for the West Indies.
When the visitors came out to bat for the 4th innings on the 1st session, opening batters John Campbell and Tagenarine Chanderpaul did very well to negotiate with the new ball, reaching 20 runs without a loss in the first 11 overs.
However, after the lunch break, the New Zealand bowling attack came out firing on all cylinders with Jacob Duffy removing both of the openers through outside edges.
Then Michael Bracewell and Matt Henry combined to remove Alick Athanaze (5 off 22) and skipper Roston Chase (4 off 15) cheaply.
In the middle of the Kiwi bowling carnage, Shai Hope and Justin Greaves stood tall against the challenge. Hope, in particular, looked absolutely solid in his application and scored a fifty before the Tea break, but West Indies still needed 400 runs at the end of session 2.
In the final session, Shai Hope continued to answer all the questions thrown at him with Justin Greaves playing the supporting act. Their pursuit of 531 runs was later aided by Matt Henry's calf injury and his absence played a pivotal role.
Hope went on to notch up his 3rd Test match century and Greaves scored a hard-worked fifty. Their partnership extended to 140 runs at stumps and on the final day they will need 319 to win off whole 90 overs.
With all 3 results possible, day 5 of this 1st Test match in Christchurch promises to be an absolute roller coaster, especially if Matt Henry gets ruled out.
Follow the live ball-by-ball updates from the NZ vs WI, 1st Test Day 4 right here:
New Zealand vs West Indies, 1st Test: Playing XIs
New Zealand: Tom Latham (c), Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Will Young, Tom Blundell (wk), Michael Bracewell, Nathan Smith, Zakary Foulkes, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy.
West Indies: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, John Campbell, Alick Athanaze, Shai Hope, Roston Chase (c), Justin Greaves, Tevin Imlach (wk), Kemar Roach, Johann Layne, Jayden Seales, Ojay Shields.
New Zealand vs West Indies, 1st Test: Live Streaming Details
The first Test match between New Zealand and West Indies will be live-streamed on the SonyLIV and FanCode apps and websites in India. Television broadcasts will take place on the Sony Sports Network channels in the country.
