KEY POINTS:
On such fine lines are reputations won and lost.
Andy Moles, in his first test in charge of New Zealand, has the look of a batting savant after watching Daniel Flynn and Jesse Ryder cash in against an erratic West Indian attack. Not enough others did, however, and
the 365 represents another unfulfilled innings.
One of the first imprints Moles left on the side was to tinker with the order, moving Flynn from No 6 to first drop, and demoting the free-flowing Ryder to No 5. Ryder's move looked logical but there was risk attached to moving Flynn up the order, given that he is finding his feet at this level and had yet to pass 50 in seven tests.
The move looks a winner but then again it's easy to say that when Flynn knocks up 95 and Ryder adds 89. If Flynn had nicked one that ripped past him very early on the first day then we might be whistling a different tune.
While Flynn's work was done on Thursday, Ryder still had work to do yesterday. Commencing with Brendon McCullum on 226-4, Ryder went from 54 to 75 with relative ease, but things then started getting hairy.
He inside-edged one past the keeper, and was dropped by Sewnarine Chattergoon in the slips on 80.
In the end he succumbed to a Daren Powell long hop, pulling it straight to Shivnarine Chanderpaul at square leg.
It is the second test on the bounce that Ryder has slapped a half-tracker to a fielder, with him gifting spinner Nathan Hauritz a wicket at the Adelaide Oval.
Little came easy for New Zealand, though.
The new ball, taken after 85 overs, started to trouble McCullum and he ended up nibbling one behind off Jerome Taylor. He and Ryder had added 89 for the sixth wicket.
James Franklin will be cursing his luck. He wore a lifter in the ribs that sucked the air out of him and that might have contributed to his jumpiness. After flicking one of his hip to fine leg he lost his balance and dislodged a bail with his foot.
Daniel Vettori looked in great form getting through to 30 before scooping an uppercut to deep point.
Vettori exchanged a few words with non-striker Kyle Mills, perhaps suggesting that the experienced Mills was remiss in not informing him that the fielder had dropped back.
Mills became the second victim of the referral system, with Rudi Koertzen correctly ruling that the a ball from Fidel Edwards hit his pad first and would have gone on to hit the stumps.
Mark Benson had originally ruled not out, obviously concerned about the possibility it had gone from bat to pad rather than the other way around.
You can safely say Mills would have mixed feelings about the technology when he was denied the wicket of Chattergoon late in the day, with Koertzen ruling that the ball may have passed over the stumps. For all the world, it looked out.
Mark Gillespie clipped his way deftly to 16 not out while Iain O'Brien got a real working over from the slingy Edwards (3-91) before spooning a return catch.
The 365 total was below what was required but on the balance of things, not horrible.
Again the lack of a batsman going on to make a big century hurt. Nobody has passed three figures for New Zealand since Ross Taylor batted so explosively in Manchester back in June.
West Indian captain Chris Gayle lit up the gloaming with a bold 29, including a savage pulled six off Mark Gillespie. The West indies are 39 without loss and with rain forecast for Monday, the draw is heavy favourite.
It was a largely unsatisfactory day, with play not starting until 2.45pm because of a wet outfield, inexcusable in these days of sand-silting and super-soppers. The teams finished eight overs shy of the allotted 67, despite playing through until 8pm.
Yesterday also had the distinction of becoming, surely, the only day in test history to be disrupted by kitty litter. Yes, kitty litter. The groundstaff laid it down to soak up the excess water but it proved too coarse for Jerome Taylor on his run up.
Scoreboard
New Zealand
1st Innings
Tim McIntosh c Baker b Gayle 34
Jamie How c Chanderpaul b Powell 10
Daniel Flynn lbw Gayle 95
Ross Taylor c Marshall b Gayle 15
Jesse Ryder c Chanderpaul b Powell 89
Brendon McCullum c Ramdin b Taylor 25
James Franklin hit wicket b Edwards 7
Daniel Vettori c Marshall b Powell 30
Kyle Mills lbw b Edwards 12
Mark Gillespie not out 16
Iain O'Brien c and b Edwards 4
Extras (16lb, 9w, 3nb) 28
TOTAL (all out, 116 overs) 365
Fall of wickets: 1-10, 2-97, 3-128, 4-189, 5-278, 6-289, 7-310, 8-327, 9-347, 10-365.
Bowling: Jerome Taylor 23-7-61-1 (1w), Daren Powell 24-7-68-3 (5w), Fidel Edwards 22-4-91-3 (2nb), Lionel Baker 25-3-85-0 (3w, 1nb), Chris Gayle 21-2-42-3, Brendon Nash 1-0-2-0.
West Indies
1st Innings
Chris Gayle not out 29
Sewnarine Chattergoon not out 9
Extras (1b) 1
TOTAL (for 0 wickets, 14 overs) 39
Bowling: Mark Gillespie 5-1-19-0, Kyle Mills 5-0-14-0, Iain O'Brien 2-1-4-0, Daniel Vettori 2-1-1-0.