Hope and Greaves take Christchurch Test into Day 5

Hope and Greaves take Christchurch Test into Day 5

Shai Hope scored a brilliant unbeaten century while Justin Greaves made 55 as the pair added 140 runs together on Day 4 of the Christchurch Test.

Their stand came after New Zealand set a huge target of 531 runs by declaring their second innings at 466. From a shaky position of 72 for 4, Hope and Greaves showed fight and carried West Indies to 212 for 4 at Stumps, still trailing by 319 runs.

New Zealand had started the day at 417 for 4 and batted only 14 more overs, adding 49 runs before declaring. Jayden Seales dismissed Will Young early, while Kemar Roach removed Michael Bracewell after he scored 24. Roach then struck twice more to get Matt Henry and Jacob Duffy, completing his five-wicket haul. With Duffy’s wicket, New Zealand declared, giving themselves two and a half sessions to attack West Indies.

West Indies openers John Campbell and Tagenarine Chanderpaul survived until Lunch, but New Zealand struck quickly after the break. In the second over of the middle session, Jacob Duffy dismissed Campbell with an outswinger, caught by Bracewell at slip. Soon after, Chanderpaul inside-edged a ball that Tom Latham caught diving to his right.

Alick Athanaze tried to resist alongside Hope but fell to a short ball from Bracewell, toe-ending a pull shot to mid-on. Roston Chase was dismissed by Henry in the same way as the first innings, edging a ball to Latham. That left West Indies struggling at 72 for 4.

From there, Hope and Greaves steadied the innings. Hope cut and pulled confidently against short balls, while Greaves drove and defended well against Henry. Hope reached his seventh Test fifty before Tea and even hit Bracewell for a six over long-on. With Henry leaving the field for calf scans, New Zealand’s attack weakened further. Hope then brought up his century off 139 balls, and the pair crossed the 100-run stand just before drinks.

In the final session, Greaves reached his half-century as the partnership continued to frustrate New Zealand. By the end of Day 4, West Indies had already shown big improvement compared to their first innings, where they were bowled out in 75.4 overs. This time, they survived 74 overs and finished at 212 for 4.

The challenge now is to bat through the three remaining sessions on Day 5 against New Zealand’s attack and avoid defeat.