It has been more than 30 years since West Indies last won a Test in New Zealand, a drought captain Roston Chase has repeatedly highlighted during the ongoing three-match series. The visitors have shown they possess a bowling attack capable of unsettling New Zealand’s batters, but their own batting has failed to function in unison, apart from the second-innings rearguard in the first Test – aided in part by New Zealand being without two frontline fast bowlers through injury. That imbalance explains West Indies’ decision to strengthen their batting for the Mount Maunganui Test, with Alick Athanaze replacing the injured Ojay Shields in the playing XI.
Yet, no single change can mask a deeper batting problem that has forced West Indies into repeated introspection. Chase himself averages under 16 with the bat as captain, and, beyond Shai Hope and Justin Greaves, contributions have been sporadic. Instability caused by form and injury has only compounded the issue. On the eve of the third Test, Chase said West Indies would target 300 in their first innings.
While that figure may appear modest, it is a realistic benchmark in Mount Maunganui, where early seam movement is typical, and spin increasingly comes into play as matches wear on – a trend underlined by New Zealand including Ajaz Patel in their squad for the match.
Although captain Tom Latham stopped short of confirming his XI, even without Ajaz, the spin options of Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra could be enough against a fragile batting order. New Zealand will also hope their pace resources hold up, with Jacob Duffy and Zak Foulkes having shouldered heavy workloads following in-game injuries to Matt Henry, Nathan Smith and Blair Tickner across the first two Tests. From a batting point of view, there’s a lot to improve on; but collectively, New Zealand are still much stronger than the visitors.
The hosts will look to make it 2-0 after victory in the second Test in Wellington, while West Indies arrive with ample motivation and plenty to prove. But whether the visitors possess the skillset required to win in these conditions remains the big question.
Form Guide
New Zealand: WDWWW (last five matches, most recent first) West Indies: LDLLL
In the spotlight – Ajaz Patel and Kavem Hodge
Ajaz Patel last played a Test during the tour of India in 2024-25. He produced a Player-of-the-Match performance in that match, with figures of 11 for 160 helping New Zealand complete a 3-0 series sweep. Since then, Ajaz has been active across all three formats in domestic cricket. He has featured in all four games for Central Districts (CD) in the Plunket Shield this season, during which he completed 400 first-class wickets. Having bowled over 100 overs for CD, Ajaz arrives in strong rhythm, and with West Indies’ batting right-hand dominant, his role at home could extend beyond that of a holding bowler. If selected, Ajaz would be playing his first home Test since February 2020.
Set to turn 33 in February, Kavem Hodge is the second-oldest batter in West Indies’ squad. Yet, despite playing 12 Tests, he averages below 25. However, with few consistent or convincing batting options emerging, Hodge remains in contention – if only just. Drafted in for the second Test to strengthen the batting, he fell for a duck in the first innings, but his strokeplay in the second made him West Indies’ most watchable batter before they were bowled out for 128. Hodge’s innings ended only due to a stunning catch from Will Young, and in Mount Maunganui, West Indies will hope Hodge can finally grab hold of the No. 3 role, which he was handed in Wellington but did not fully capitalise on.
Team news
Wicketkeeper-batter Tom Blundell has recovered from the hamstring injury that forced him to miss the Wellington Test, and looks set to walk back into the XI. So Mitchell Hay, despite scoring a debut half-century in the second Test, has been released from the New Zealand side. Left-arm spinner Ajaz replaced the injured Blair Tickner in the squad, but Latham said the decision on whether he plays will be made on match day. There could also be a toss up between Phillips and Michael Bracewell for the spin-bowling allrounder’s role.
New Zealand (probable): 1 Devon Conway, 2 Tom Latham (capt), 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Rachin Ravindra, 5 Daryll Mitchell, 6 Glenn Phillips/Michael Bracewell, 7 Tom Blundell (wk), 8 Zak Foulkes, 9 Michael Rae, 10 Jacob Duffy, 11 Ajaz Patel.
West Indies have announced their XI, and barring any last-minute changes, the only swap is Athanaze, known for his comfort against spin bowling, replacing the injured seamer Shields. Chase has said he would bowl himself more in spinning conditions. Tagenarine Chanderpaul remains unavailable.
At the Bay Oval, the pitch usually offers noticeable seam movement early on, particularly in the first two sessions, to go with good carry. Batting can be challenging at the start, before the surface flattens out as the Test progresses. From the third day onwards, the pitch tends to grip, and bring slow turn into play. Scoring late in the match becomes harder as wear and tear sets in, especially when chasing. Potential rain on days two and three could disrupt the Test.
Stats and trivia
Despite three previous Test appearances at home, Ajaz is yet to take a wicket in New Zealand.
Kemar Roach is seven wickets away from becoming the fifth West Indies bowler to take 300 Test wickets. The four ahead of him are Courtney Walsh (519), Curtly Ambrose (405), Malcolm Marshall (376) and Lance Gibbs (309).
The team winning the toss has opted to bowl in the last four Tests at the Bay Oval, and lost the match on three of those occasions. Only Bangladesh, in 2022, bucked that trend, as they won despite opting to bowl first.
West Indies have won only two of their last 16 Tests. In the ongoing World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, they’re still winless after seven matches.
Quotes
“The only thing left for us to do is to win and [we] just have to keep believing. I think that we’ve had some sparks of brilliance throughout the series, and it’s just for us to put them together for a longer period of time – especially in the batting. We think that if we could post a 300 total in the first innings, it would go a long way in us winning a Test match here. So it’s just for us to bat well and bat well not only once, but bat well twice.” West Indies captain Roston Chase has faith his side will hit back
“Ajaz has been extremely successful for us overseas, and has been extremely successful for Central Districts, doing what he does in terms of being able to apply pressure, [and] tie an end up. When the opportunity presents itself, when a spinner becomes a little bit more attacking, he knows how to bowl in those conditions that are favourable to him. I think that’s probably something he relies on. He’s certainly got a lot of experience to lean on.” New Zealand captain Tom Latham backs his left-arm spinner
Sreshth Shah is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo. @sreshthx
