Kavem Hodge ton sees West Indies save follow-on in New Zealand Test

MOUNT MAUNGANUI: Kavem Hodge scored his second Test century on Saturday as the West Indies reached 381-6 at the end of the third day of the third Test, 194 runs behind New Zealand and avoiding the follow-on.

The 32-year-old crawled to his century off 224 balls, hitting 12 boundaries and being dropped on 74 by Daryl Mitchell, who shelled a difficult chance at slip off Ajaz Patel.

He faced 33 balls to get through the 90s, including a long stoppage on 97 after he was hit by a painful blow in the box by a Michael Rae delivery.

Hodge shared in an 81-run partnership with Justin Greaves, which edged the visitors closer to the follow-on target of 375, and fifty stands with Tevin Imlach as well as Alick Athanaze.

Hodge was unbeaten on 109 at stumps with Anderson Phillip the other not out batsman on 12.

New Zealand received a spark from an unlikely source when Mitchell trapped Greaves lbw for 43, just his fourth Test wicket in his 35th match.

Batting suddenly looked a lot harder, as Roston Chase came and went, trapped lbw by Patel.

The West Indies said their leading batsman, Shai Hope, would not have batted on Saturday because of food poisoning, but Kemar Roach, who suffered a hamstring injury on day one, would bat if required.

Phillip came to the crease and should have been out for two when edging Patel to wicketkeeper Tom Blundell, but New Zealand did not appeal. He was then dropped on eight from Patel’s bowling by Rae at mid-on.

Jacob Duffy had 2-79 from 31 overs, while Patel took 2-94 in 33 overs to end his unwanted record of being the bowler to take the most Test wickets without a single one at home.

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Patel’s 86th Test wicket was his first in New Zealand, bowling Athanaze in the middle session, some 2,562 days since his first Test in New Zealand and with his 394th ball on home soil.

England’s Billy Bates, who took 50 wickets between 1882 and 1887, all in Australia, has regained the dubious honour in the Test history books.

New Zealand made a breakthrough straight after lunch as Imlach fell for 27, caught behind by Blundell from the bowling of Rae.

Hodge and Athanaze combined for a 61-run partnership with the latter playing a series of nice drives and flicks as he looked to find form.

Having confidently moved to 45, a moment of indecision saw Athanaze gift Patel his wicket. He attempted to leave a ball well down the legside, only for it to deflect off his inner thigh and onto the stumps.

The West Indies resumed on Saturday at 110-0 and added only one run before Duffy struck in the second over as John Campbell edged to Tom Latham at second slip without adding to his overnight 45.

It ended the first West Indies century opening stand since February 2023.

Duffy doubled up when he bowled Brandon King, who had begun the day on 55, for 63.

New Zealand declared their first innings on Friday at a mammoth 575-8, anchored by Devon Conway’s epic 227 and captain Latham’s 137.

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Ton-up Hodge leads West Indies’ fightback with bat against England

Kavem Hodge scored his maiden Test hundred as West Indies made life tough for England in Nottingham on Friday during their first day in the field since James Anderson’s international retirement.

West Indies were 351-5 in reply to England’s first-innings 416 at stumps on the second day of the second Test at Trent Bridge, a deficit of 65 runs.

Kavem Hodge, dropped on 16, made 120 in what was just the 31-year-old’s seventh innings at this level.

He shared a partnership of 175 with fellow Windward Islands batsman Alick Athanaze (82), who fell in sight of what would have been his first Test century after the fourth-wicket duo, showing the kind of skill and determination many pundits feared the West Indies were lacking, batted throughout the whole of the second session.

The pair came together shortly before lunch with West Indies in trouble at 84-3 despite a good pitch and sunny skies, allied to a lightning-quick outfield, meaning conditions were in favour of the batters.

It was the type of situation in which England would have called upon veteran paceman Anderson for much of the past 21 years.

But the 41-year-old had bowed out of Test cricket with 704 wickets — the most by any fast bowler — after England’s crushing innings and 114-run thrashing of the West Indies in the series opener at Lord’s, with team chiefs looking to refresh the side ahead of the 2025/26 Ashes in Australia.

This is also England’s first home Test since 2012 without either Anderson or his longtime new-ball partner Stuart Broad, who retired after last year’s Ashes.

Between them, the pair took 1,308 Test wickets and their absence was always bound to create a gap despite Anderson’s new role as England’s fast-bowling mentor.

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Instead, it was Chris Woakes and fast bowler Gus Atkinson, fresh from a stunning 12-wicket haul on Test debut at Lord’s as England went 1-0 up in a three-match series, who shared the new ball on Friday.

England captain Ben Stokes’s decision to bring on off-spinner Shoaib Bashir rather than himself as second change was soon rewarded with Mikyle Louis and Kirk McKenzie both out to rash shots as the 20-year-old took his first Test wickets on home soil.

In between, West Indies captain Kraigg Brathwaite fell for 48 when the opener fended a rising Atkinson delivery straight to Ollie Pope at short leg.

But just as England had benefitted from several dropped catches on Thursday, with Pope missed twice on his way to 121, so too was Hodge given a reprieve when he edged express quick Mark Wood — recalled in place of Anderson — to first slip, only for Joe Root to floor a regulation two-handed chance.

Athanaze had made 48 when he was struck flush on the helmet by a rapid Wood bouncer.

But he recovered to complete a maiden Test fifty, with Hodge — whose previous highest Test score was the 71 he made during the West Indies’ thrilling eight-run win over Australia in Brisbane in January — following suit.

But the pair were eventually separated when Stokes, who didn’t come on until the 50th over, had Athanaze slapping a wide ball to Harry Brook at gully to end a 99-ball stay including 10 fours and a six.

Kavem Hodge, however, pulled Stokes for four to go to 97 before driving the all-rounder straight down the ground for a 17th boundary in 143 balls faced to complete his century, with the diminutive batsman joyfully leaping into the arms of towering non-striker Jason Holder.

He eventually fell lbw to Woakes, the dismissal upheld on review by the umpire’s call.

But at 305-5, the West Indies had already made far more than the 257 runs combined they managed in two innings at Lord’s.

Woakes finished the day with 1-59 from 18 overs but Wood, who repeatedly both topped speeds of 93 mph (150 km/h) and beat the outside edge, had no reward in a return of 0-51 in 14.1 overs before pulling up and leaving the field.

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