West Indies fancy the path less trodden

Put yourself in the seat of a West Indies cricketer and think this through. You have been whiplashed for 131 in the first innings in response to New Zealand's 460 and the speedsters are gearing up for a second bite at the cherry. With two days of action still left, who will emerge victorious seems like a foregone conclusion. If their devil-may-care psyche is something to go by, the party animals in cricket's club wouldn't think twice before going down their hackneyed route of roister. With practically nothing to lose, the footloose and fancy-free openers will embark on a fishing expedition. All tempters in the driving zone would be met with unperturbed blazes of the blade after caution was thrown to the wind in the dressing room huddle. For a refreshing change, West Indies listened to the angel sitting on the right shoulder for the better part of Day 3 at Basin Reserve. 

It's not to say that the visitors discovered their hitherto unseen alter ego and played possum throughout. In fact, John Campbell milked 69 at a swift strike rate of 62.39 and Jason Holder finished 60 off 89 at stumps. The crux of the matter is that contrary to their modus operandi of full-fledged rave in such situations, West Indies put their nose to the grindstone. Judgement was offered to wide strayers which didn't need tinkering with while solid front-foot blocks were a part and parcel of the survival kit instead of the agricultural propaganda. Even when the shots were pulled out from the repertoire, they carried a tag of purpose with them on their excursion to the boundary triangles. Thanks to this elusive commitment to the job, West Indies live to see another day in a clash where it seemed as if they'd brought a plastic knife to a gunfight. 

Much of the credit for bringing this temperamental revolution must go to Jason Holder, West Indies' knight in shining armour. Having taken the captaincy reigns amid administrative malaise that had by then become a sombre backdrop of their functioning, his tranquillity both in terms of skill and leadership has ensured the Calypso kings are thought to be more than just a boisterous bunch of rebels who can win nothing but a three-hour, capsule-sized contest. Since his maiden Test triumph, against Pakistan in Sharjah, Holder's team has a record just fractionally poorer than England's and finer than that of any Asian regiment other than India. Such has been the dramatic overhaul in how the side now conducts themselves on and off the field that the cricketing fraternity has been compelled to change their perceptions of West Indies as merely a shadow of a once-glorious empire. 

The topsy-turvy order of play as the Caribbean strived to hang by a thread did hold snippets which sparkled of Holder's father-figure influence. When New Zealand were extending a fair deal of chin music towards Joshua da Silva during his 76-run partnership with Holder, the senior pro constantly lent tips and tricks on dealing with the bouncer barrage to his partner in the wake of some mid-pitch gardening. The highbrow feedback meant da Silva waded through New Zealand's ploy without breaking a sweat even as light deteriorated from bad to worse. In retrospect, an inroad at that point in time would have proved a final straw in the camel's back given a night-watchman entering the picture. 

Besides being a sounding board to his allies, Holder himself shrugged off a lean patch with the willow to pilot his troops within touching distance of New Zealand's first-innings total. His first fifty since January 2019 left West Indies trailing behind by a manageable 85 runs, the wagon wheel of which was splattered by a storm of pulls and hooks. Jermaine Blackwood waxed lyrical of his skipper's unflinching grind and the tinge of optimism in his baritone voice spoke volumes about the new-age West Indies who love to look adversity in the eye.

''The skipper is batting very good in these tough conditions. He and Josh are building a good partnership. They are batting beautifully, if they can show some fight, it will be good. Most of our batsmen got out very cheaply, myself included. New Zealand have a quality attack, their bowlers are tall and they understand the conditions pretty well. The surface is good, there is a bit of grass and if you put in the right areas, you are going to get wickets. Anyhow, we will fight right through to the end.'', Blackwood asserted. 

Despite West Indies refusing to raise the flag of truce, the gold standard of quality from the other end was enough to reap a harvest of six wickets. The resistance might've come a bit too late from West Indies, but they can be proud of the fact that they stepped outside of their comfort zone and chose to opt the road less travelled.

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