West Indies thrashed

Man has split the atom, landed on the moon and found the Titanic, but no team has ever scored 474 to win a Test match and the present West Indies team, with its glaring limitations, certainly wasn't going to make history at Kensington Oval yesterday.

Instead, history was written by New Zealand.

They completed their first victory in 12 Tests in the Caribbean, since their first 30 years ago, sweeping aside their opponents for 269 to win the first Cable & Wireless Test by the resounding margin of 204 runs with 11 overs and a full day remaining.

The last six West Indies wickets tumbled in familiar fashion for 65, three of them to the exciting Shane Bond, who generated pace over 90 miles an hour and whose overall return of five for 78 in his fifth Test was simply an indication of things to come.

The relevant West Indies resistance came only at the top of the order and towards the end from a rampant Brian Lara when it hardly mattered.

The outcome was neither flattering to New Zealand nor unjust to the West Indies.

It was an utterly fair representation of the difference between the teams in purpose, intensity, all-round strength and sheer cricketing common sense and confirmed their respective ratings of third and sixth on the International Cricket Council Test championship table.

As jubilant New Zealand supporters, who have flown in for the series, celebrated with their flags and their famous haka war dance in front of the team rooms, the few West Indians who stayed for the final rites were left to reflect on only the fourth defeat in 39 Tests on the ground.

Although they, and everyone else, knew that it was an inevitable result, they had a right to expect more of a fight.

They had watched in disbelief and disappointment as rank carelessness, unbecoming of a professional team of international repute, led to the first innings collapse to 107 that virtually determined the issue.

Throughout the first session and 20 minutes into the second yesterday, there was gutsy resistance from openers Chris Gayle and Wavell Hinds and then, for just over an hour, from Ramnaresh Sarwan that kept the anxious New Zealanders at bay.

But then one of the several perceptive moves by captain Stephen Fleming and another of the thoughtless absurdities that continue to afflict this West Indies team changed the course of the innings.

Daniel Vettori, the tall, bespectacled left-arm spinner, removed Hinds for 37 to a bat-pad catch at forward short-leg with his third ball, after a first-wicket stand of 63, and looked the likeliest wicket-taker on a worn pitch. But Fleming replaced him at the northern end with the pacy Bond on resumption.

Bond had induced a limp hook shot that accounted for Sarwan first ball in the first innings and twice at the start of his innings Sarwan created a buzz around the ground by twice trying the shot against Ian Butler.

The second went for four, after which Sarwan established himself in a partnership of 65 with Gayle. But the young Guyanese seems addicted to the hook and, as with most addictions, it once more proved his downfall.

Bond is a few miles an hour quicker than Butler and Sarwan was in no position for the shot to a ball too close to him.

The resulting catch spiralled to Vettori at mid-on, a replay of his first innings recklessness.

Sarwan is a fine young player but, unless he overcomes the inexcusable indiscretions that have repeatedly brought his downfall, he won't have the long and productive career indicated by his obvious talent.

His dismissal provided an obvious charge for Bond and the New Zealanders who tenaciously went after their prize.

Observing a fuller length than he managed before lunch, Bond bothered Gayle on the legs and, nine runs and six overs later, won umpire Rudy Koertzen's clearcut agreement on an lbw appeal as he beat the tall left-hander for pace.

Gayle had overcome an uncertain start to strike 12 certain boundaries from 131 balls in a stay that lasted 10 minutes short of three hours.

The departure of the three young batsmen at the top of the order left the old hands to take on the New Zealanders.

Only Lara made a fair fist of it and most of his 73 runs (119 balls, a six and 11 fours) came in a flurry of shots with the tailenders as his partners.

Carl Hooper stayed with him for an hour-and-a-quarter, carefully adding 46, but he relaxed when Fleming brought back the wayward Daryl Tuffey.

Tuffey is the least threatening of the three fast bowlers but induced one of those indiscretions from the captain that was once an annoying part of his game. It was an unnecessary cut to a wide, bouncing ball that found the top edge on its way to first slip.

By tea, Lara and Shivnarine Chanderpaul had pushed the total past 200 but they represented the last of the batting. After Vettori accounted for the latter with a clever piece of deception, the end was swift and only enlivened for the small crowd by Lara's strokes.

Fleming starved Chanderpaul of early runs by blocking his favoured areas with a short mid-wicket and a leg gully. But the solid left-hander has been full of confidence all season and skilfully used his feet to clip Vettori to the mid-wicket boundary.

When he moved down the pitch next ball, Vettori sent it wider and straighter and Chanderpaul edged it low to first slip, a quality piece of bowling.

Ridley Jacobs soon repeated the stroke that got him out in the first innings by topedging a pull against Vettori. Nathan Astle didn't have to move an inch to collect the catch then. Now he ran back 20 yards and made a sensational, tumbling take with the ball coming over his shoulder.

It was a signal for Lara to open up, launching Vettori for a straight six and, when the new ball was taken, attacking Butler and Bond.

But Bond had the last laugh, breaching Lara's defence the ball after two rasping off-side boundaries to disturb off and middle stumps.

Butler took care of Darren Powell to a slip catch, Bond had Pedro Collins lbw and Merv Dillon put a full stop to the match by slicing his first ball to gully.