West Indies Runako Morton ducks under a bouncer from New Zealand's Chris Martin during the second Test cricket match in Wellington on the opening day on Friday in New Zealand (Thursday night Caribbean time). Looking on is New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming. - REUTERSWELLINGTON, New Zealand (CMC):
RUNAKO MORTON'S growing discipline to complement his undoubted ability gave the West Indies their only bright moments on a gloomy opening day of the second Test against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve on Friday (Thursday night Caribbean time).
Filling in for the injured Ramnaresh Sarwan in a team that showed three changes from the first match in Auckland, Morton picked from where
he left off in the One-Day International series with a stroke-filled, authoritative 63 as the tourists hobbled to 182 for eight at the end of a day severely shortened by rain and bad light.
However, the mood of the tourists, who still looked shaken from their squandered opportunity at Eden Park just days earlier, was not helped by two more glaring umpiring errors and inexplicable dithering over the deteriorating light in the second half of the day.
DISGRUNTLED
Skipper Shivnarine Chander-paul, whose satisfaction at choosing to bat on winning the toss lasted just over half-an-hour, had even more reason to feel disgruntled along with Dwayne Bravo, both falling victims to decisions by Darryl Harper that again raised questions about his status among the rank of international cricket's elite umpires.
The Australian official, who was similarly off-colour in the opening Test and surprised many by his controversial tactics to age the replacement ball during the West Indies run-chase last Sunday, was left in an embarrassing position with colleague Mark Benson of England as play was called off before the extended close in light that was actually considerably better than earlier in the afternoon.
It was during one of those murky periods that the umpires chose to resume play after tea, and while only two overs were bowled, it cost the West Indies the wicket of Morton, trapped lbw by James Franklin, the left-arm seamer ending the day with the excellent figures of five for 44.
The 25-year-old hometown hero more than made up for the shock news at the start of the day that Shane Bond was out of the match.
The fast bowler, whose five-wicket second innings haul bowled the Black Caps to an unexpected win in the first Test, came down overnight with a viral illness that left him suffering from vomiting and diarrhoea.
Team management were so desperate to play the pacer that they even contemplated gambling on including him in the final 11 in the hope that Stephen Fleming would win the toss and bat first, so giving Bond some more time to recover.
RISK
However, they eventually decided that it was too much of a risk to take, a decision justified by Chanderpaul's decision to take first strike on a pitch with preparation moisture.
The New Zealanders looked deflated in Bond's absence and the opening pair of Chris Gayle and Daren Ganga raced to 43 at better than a run-a-minute before Franklin eased his teammates' worries.
The left-armer drew Gayle (30) into a drive and edged a comfortable catch to Brendon McCullum.
The wicketkeeper then displayed his reflexes and sure hands in diving to his left in the next over to remove Ganga to a leg-side catch off Kyle Mills, Bond's last-minute replacement.
Still smarting from his double-failure in the first Test, Brian Lara strode to the middle with the decent first morning crowd expecting the champion left hander to capitalise on the absence of his nemesis from Auckland. But the 36-year-old was never allowed to settle, flirting at a delivery when only on one to give Fleming a comfortable catch at first slip and Franklin a memorable 50th Test wicket.
Lara's tally of six runs from three innings was hardly what anyone expected and his demise meant that, at 49 for three, three wickets had tumbled in the space of six runs.
Morton, who had come in at the fall of the first wicket, played with authority while his captain struggled to get the ball off the square as 31 runs were added for the fourth wicket.
(First day)
C. Gayle c wkpr McCullum b Franklin 30
D. Ganga c wkpr McCullum b Mills 15
R. Morton lbw b Franklin 63
B. Lara cFleming b Franklin 1
S. Chanderpaul cFleming b Martin 8
D. Bravo lbw b Franklin 9
+D. Ramdin b Franklin 2
R. Lewis cFleming b Martin 22
I. Bradshaw not out 10
D. Powell not out 16
Extras (b2, lb1, nb3) 6
TOTAL (8 wkts) 182
F. Edwards to bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-43, 2-45, 3-49, 4-80, 5-102, 6-108, 7-142, 8-165.
Bowling: Martin 14-1-66-2 (nb1); Franklin 17-6-44-5 (nb1); Mills 17-5-52-1 (nb1); Vettori 5-2-13-0; Astle 3-2-4-0.
NEW ZEALAND: H. Marshall, J. How, P. Fulton,S. Fleming, N. Astle, S. Styris, +B. McCullum, D. Vettori, J. Franklin, K. Mills, C. Martin.
Toss: West Indies.
Umpires: D. Harper, M. Benson, TV
Replays: A. Hill.
Match Referee: M. Procter.
