Match reports

NEW ZEALAND v WEST INDIES 1955-56

At Wellington, March 3, 5, 6,7

15-Apr-1957
At Wellington, March 3, 5, 6,7. West Indies won by nine wickets. Due mainly to the recall of Taylor, whose only previous Test appearance was against England nine years earlier, New Zealand gave a more spirited batting performance. Taylor's enterprising stroke-play in both innings was in refreshing contrast to the timidity of most of his colleagues. The chief batting honours, however, again went to Weekes who gave a sparkling display of clean hitting on the opening day, when the New Zealanders wasted a great chance of taking a grip on the game. Cave and MacGibbon sent back Pairaudeau, Goddard and Smith while the West Indies score rose from 117 to 119 and then Weekes, who had scored only 2, was dropped at slip. Weekes gave New Zealand abundant reason to regret this lapse which was the most important of several. He reached his third successive Test century in two and a quarter hours and shared in three-figures stands with Atkinson and Binns.
New Zealand were soon in deeper trouble, their score slumping from 23 for none to 28 for four, before Beck joined Taylor in a promising stand. A mix-up between the two caused Taylor to be run out by the length of the pitch but Beck, who spent nearly five hours over 55, found another valuable partner in Guillen. Following on 196 behind, New Zealand were indebted again to Taylor for narrowly avoiding their third consecutive innings defeat. Atkinson bowled his medium paced deliveries with commendable accuracy.