The West Indies have avoided the follow on but plenty of work still remains if they are to close the gap on New Zealand in Mount Maunganui
Kavem Hodge has scored an unbeaten century in an anchor role as West Indies dug in with the bat again on the third day of the third Test against New Zealand.
Hodge was 109 not out at stumps in Mount Maunganui on Saturday with Anderson Phillip on 12 and the tourists at 6-381, having avoided the follow on as they replied to New Zealand’s 8-575.
They achieved that goal even without first Test century-maker Shai Hope who has been out of action for the past two days with an unspecified illness.
New Zealand lead the three-match series 1-0 after the first Test was drawn and the Black Caps won the second by nine wickets.
Hodge made 120 against England at Trent Bridge in July 2024 but had been past 50 only once in the 16 innings between that day and his redemptive innings at Bay Oval on Saturday.
He batted three and a half hours before pulling a ball from Michael Rae to reach his second Test hundred from 224 balls.
“I’m grateful to be honest,” Hodge said. “We always say that a batsman’s currency is runs and I’m just happy that I was able to contribute to the team. I’ve been trying to understand what I will face here in New Zealand and come up with a plan to combat it.”
Hodge struggled to cement his place in the West Indies’ team after his maiden century, missed the drawn first Test and made 0 and 35 in the second Test.
Hodge came to the crease after the loss of John Campbell in the second over of the day and batted through the rest of the day to rally his team in partnerships of 66 with Tevin Imlach (27), 61 with Alick Athanaze (45) and 81 with Justin Greaves (43).
He played the New Zealand spinners well, often from the back foot and pulled short balls from the pacers crisply through the leg side.
The West Indies showed the same determination replying to New Zealand’s mammoth total that they showed in the second innings of the first Test when they batted for 163.3 overs and reached 6-457 after being set 531 to win.
Brandon King made 63 and Campbell 45 in a 111-run partnership for the first wicket, their first century stand as an opening pair and only the sixth for the West Indies’ first wicket in the last 11 years.
Campbell was caught at second slip by Tom Latham, lunging forward to drive a ball from Jacob Duffy that moved enough to catch the outside edge.
King was beaten by a ball from Duffy which swung in late and cannoned off his pads onto his stumps.
Imlach and Athanaze fell between lunch and tea.
Daryl Mitchell and spinner Ajaz Patel bowled well in tandem immediately after tea and removed Greaves and Roston Chase (2) lbw in quick succession.
