Visitors pull off moral boosting victory

FALMOUTH, Trelawny, (CMC) – New Zealand turned the tables on a Jamaica Select X1 to pull off a 123 run win just after tea on the third and final day of their three-day tour game at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Complex here Wednesday.

The Jamaicans, chasing a victory target of 214, crashed to 90 all out to give the visitors a moral boosting triumph ahead of the first test match against West Indies at Sabina Park starting on Sunday.

The home side plummeted to 47 for seven at one stage before skipper Paul Palmer attempted to repair the damage with a top score of 43.

Palmer was last to depart trapped lbw to Neil Wagner playing across to a pitched up delivery.

No other Jamaican batsman crossed six runs except for Horace Miller who scored 14 while extras accounted for nine.

The main destroyers of the home side’s innings were Mark Craig who topped the bowling with four wickets for eight runs and Kane Williamson who picked up two for 25.

Craig, an off-spinner, snatched three wickets in one over and was on a hat-trick at one point as the Jamaicans lost wickets in quick succession.

They were reeling on three wickets for three runs just after lunch, struggling to negotiate the new ball attack of Trent Boult and Tim Southee.

Earlier, Ross Taylor continued his rich form with a half century which delayed a New Zealand batting collapse that began on the second day.

Taylor played diligently to reach 55, facing 55 balls for his half century and hitting six fours to help lift New Zealand from a precarious 65 for seven overnight.

His innings also helped to extend the lead allowing New Zealand to declare on 139 for nine on the stroke of lunch.

Pacer Derval Green was the main wicket taker finishing with a five wicket haul that included two wickets in four balls and leaking 41 runs.

Play on Wednesday occurred on a new strip after the pitch used for the first two days was declared dangerous by the umpires.

But the start of play was delayed by 40 minutes because the new strip was too wet.

Summarized Scores:

New Zealand 1st Innings: 203/9 Declared (64 Overs). Kane Williamson 47, Bradley-John Watling 30, James Neesham 28*, Ross Taylor* 23; Damion Jacobs 22-6-69-4, Derval Green 13-6-26-2, Christopher Powell 6-0-21-2, Nicholson Gordon 7-0-24-0.

Jamaica Select XI 1st Innings: 122/9 Declared. Kennar Lewis 30, Cassius Burton 27, John Campbell 24, Andre McCarthy 8; Ish Sodhi 12-2-35-5, Trent Boult 8-5-8-2, Mark Craig 9-4-15-1, Craig Anderson 4-1-7-1.

New Zealand 2nd Innings: 132/9 (40.3 Overs). Ross Taylor 55*, Luke Ronchi 11, Kane Williamson 11, Hamish Rutherford 10; Derval Green 9-1-41-5, Christopher Powell 11-4-29-2, Damion Jacobs 2.3-0-10-0.

Jamaica Select XI 2nd Innings: 178 All Out (32.5 Overs). Paul Palmer* 52*, Horace Miller+ 14, Jamie Merchant 6, Kennar Lewis 5; Mark Craig 4-0-8-4, Kane Williamson 7-1-25-2, Trent Boult 9-3-33-2, Tim Southee 8-5-4-1.

New Zealand won by 123 runs