Roston Chase: 'We try to hold everyone accountable for their actions'

After another collective batting failure, West Indies captain Roston Chase called on his batters to convert their starts and hold themselves accountable after undoing the work of a disciplined bowling attack.

West Indies made only 205 in the first innings in the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington, but then restricted New Zealand to 278. However, they were skittled for just 128 in the second innings when batting conditions were in fact better, and eventually went down by nine wickets.

Chase said the manner of the loss stung especially because West Indies had got into a decent position before the collapse, and rejected suggestion that conditions were to blame.

"We were in a good position up to this morning, even though in the first innings, we thought that we should have got some more runs," Chase said in the post-match press conference. "A number of batsmen getting some starts, but we didn't really convert into anything big. We left some runs up there in the first innings, and we thought that we would have gotten those runs in the second innings, but it didn't happen. So very disappointing for us after the bowlers really put up their hands and brought us back into the game.

"I still thought that the pitch was one that we could score runs on. Personally, I thought it was not as tough as the first game. I thought the first innings in [the first Test in] Christchurch, the ball was doing a whole lot, but I didn't think that was the case here. I just thought we just made some mistakes at some crucial points in the game, and we just never really got our foot back into the game today."

Across the tour, Chase said, West Indies' batting malaise had been clear: players get in, and then give it away. In Wellington, seven times batters crossed 20 across both of West Indies' innings, yet the highest score was Shai Hope's 47. The rest, like Hope, frittered away promising starts - 44, 33 and 29 in the first innings, followed by 22, 35 and 25 in the second.

"You have to work very hard to get that start," Chase said. "It's just about buckling down and having that determination to carry it. You will get good balls, but I think sometimes we just give it away a little too easy when we get to the 30s and the 40s. But especially in New Zealand, we know the first innings is very crucial. If you can get a good first-innings total where the ball is moving around a lot more and [there's] a lot of green on the wicket, that puts you in a commanding position to have a chance at winning the game.

"When we do sit and chat after games, we sit and we discuss those things. We try to hold everyone accountable for their actions. But not only just talking, we need to find ways out there in the middle to combat what is being thrown at us."

Yet, even after a chastening defeat, Chase stressed that the squad remained driven by a long-standing ambition: winning a Test in New Zealand for the first time in 30 years. A victory in the third Test in Mount Maunganui would not only end that drought but also square the series and give West Indies their first win of the 2025-27 World Test Championship cycle.

"The last time we won in New Zealand was in 1995, so we want to leave here with a win," Chase said. "We still think that we are capable enough to get a win, but it's just for us to be consistent, because the bowlers have shown that they're capable of getting us those ten wickets or 20 wickets that we need to get."