The test is now of New Zealand's resolve

Now comes the test for New Zealand after the West Indies fought back outstandingly on the third day of the second Test at St George's, Grenada.

Having run into a Gayle-force batting hurricane as Chris Gayle enjoyed a maiden Test double century, New Zealand now find their seemingly impregnable 373 not quite the score of security they might have imagined.

There was a time in Test cricket that such a score was regarded as money in the bank, but not nowadays.

A team being well headed on the first innings, having spent a long and fruitless time in the field, can find problems of concentration when it comes to batting. And concentration is not as high on the list of priorities of many modern Test cricketers as it should be.

Hence the reason for New Zealand needing to show all the qualities that have been part of their efforts this summer, most notably in Perth and in Auckland, if they are to secure their goal of winning the first Test series in the Caribbean by a New Zealand side.

By scoring at such a good clip, and considerably faster than New Zealand could achieve, and admittedly with the benefit of a huge piece of luck when umpire Srinivas Venkataraghavan refused to give Gayle out on 93 when he was caught of Ian Butler's bowling, the West Indies have created their chance to tie the series.

They still need to make a good start on the fourth day to ensure they gain a good lead, and as long as Shivnarine Chanderpaul is at the wicket after his outstanding international summer this year, then that must be the prospect.

While the pitch has not deteriorated to the same extent as clearly occurred in Barbados, there is still sufficient bite in the West Indies attack to put the New Zealanders under genuine pressure.

From the first day it was clear that leg-spinner Mahendra Nagamootoo was able to gain appreciable turn. At that stage it was not vicious or spiteful, but having to wipe out a significant first innings deficit creates all sort of different mind-sets for the batting side and, New Zealand, if they cannot quickly polish off the West Indies on the fourth morning, will have their disciplines tested.

Not only Nagamootoo looms as the danger however. Left-arm fast bowler Pedro Collins has been making quite a mark for himself in this series and has been consistently troubling the quality batsmen in the side.

The combination of Collins and Nagamootoo will be an intriguing prospect and if they are bowling with runs to play with, then a genuine old-fashioned stoush could be in prospect.

While nothing official has been heard in relation to Craig McMillan's absence from the field during the day, reports were that he had split webbing between fingers on his left hand. Depending on the extent of the split, that could be another problem for New Zealand's batting effort.

One thing that has been clear from the bowling effort during the match is that the effort put into fast bowler Shane Bond's recuperation has been an outstanding success.

To come from no international play since January, into three one-day games and a second Test match in a matter of weeks, to bowl the fastest ball of his career, recorded at 95.4mph (153kph) on the second day of the Test is outstanding.

Just what a weapon he can be in New Zealand's Test future is obvious. On that second day he was bowling consistently around the 90mph mark and while not quite as fast as often on the third day, he still produced wicket-taking deliveries. Gayle was dropped twice during the innings from his bowling, on 136 by Mark Richardson and on 199 by replacement fieldsman Matt Horne, while his dismissal of Carl Hooper was pure class.

New Zealand's hopes are in their own hands, and two absorbing days of play may yet remain in this contest.