Date-stamped : 26 Jan97 - 14:52 ====> Day 3 West Indies On Verge Of Victory Captain Courtney Walsh lifted the West Indies into an unstop- pable position Sunday, third day of the second cricket Test against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve. New Zealand was bowled out for 216 in 84.4 overs with pace bowler Walsh taking career-best figures of seven for 37 - reach- ing 250 Test wickets in the process. The home team fell 245 runs short of the follow-on mark and then slumped again in its second innings to be 52 for three at stumps. New Zealand still needs a further 392 to avoid an innings defeat. ``We will try to finish it tomorrow,`` Walsh said. ``I didn`t expect to get them all out today.`` The West Indies made a mammoth 660 for five before declaring late Saturday and New Zealand resumed at 23 for none on Sunday morning but offered little resistance, losing its last five wick- ets for 20 runs. Opener Darrin Murray top-scored with 52 while Stephen Fleming made 47 and Adam Parore contributed 32. Murray took 213 minutes to reach his half-century and scored five of his seven boundaries off the bowling of Rajindra Dhanraj. The New Zealand scoring, however, was only a token effort in comparison to the three centuries and three half-centuries posted by the tourists. Walsh started New Zealand`s problems when he picked up two wickets in three balls, trapping Bryan Young leg before wicket for 29 with the fifth ball of one over and then claiming Andrew Jones for a duck off the first ball of his next over. ``Once we got those wickets our spirits picked up and we knew we could get more,`` Walsh said. Dhanraj picked up the wicket of New Zealand captain Ken Ruth- erford and Curtly Ambrose dismissed Murray-- leg before wicket-- before Walsh came back into the attack. He dismissed Fleming, caught at first slip by Brian Lara, bowled Shane Thomson for six, bowled Simon Doull for a duck and had Parore brilliantly caught by Jimmy Adams at short leg. Walsh claimed his last four wickets in 4.4 overs as New Zealand`s usually staunch tail-enders caved in. Dhanraj picked up Matthew Hart`s wicket, when he was caught at leg slip by Lara for nought. Fleming was produced the stiffest resistance in the second in- nings and was unbeaten on 28 at stumps, along with dogged opener Murray (13). With Young (0), Jones (2) and Rutherford (5) already back in the pavilion, New Zealand`s hopes of holding on for a draw appear to rest solely with the weather. ====> more New Zealand coach John Reid paid tribute to Walsh. ``We rated his performance highly,`` Reid said. ``A lot of bowlers could learn from that performance. ``In conditions that didn`t suit (the bowlers), he kept run- ning in and putting in 100 percent-- and he got the rewards. ``It was a fine effort and a captain`s effort. I thought they looked a little flat this morning until he ran in and did it for them-- he inspired them.`` Source :: AP Worldstream Contributed by Ram.Krishnan (rkrishna@garnet.acns.fsu.edu) ====> Day 3, more Test best for Walsh heightens NZ gloom - Don Cameron TEST cricket records tumbled almost as frequently as did New Zealand wickets at the Basin Reserve over the weekend, with West Indies entering the fourth day of the second Test poised to deliver a humbling hammering to the home side. Courtney Walsh, the West Indies captain, produced such brilliant fast-bowling he finished with seven wickets for 37, his best Test figures. Walsh had another wicket, his 250th in Tests, in the first over as New Zealand followed on 444 runs behind and ended the third day on 52 for three. Walsh`s eight wickets yesterday lifted his total to 250, one ahead of Michael Holding on the West Indies honours list, and behind only Malcolm Marshall, Lance Gibbs and Joel Garner. Walsh began with a bad back - he still sleeps on hard hotel floors rather than too-soft beds - but with a vast smile said that the pain disappeared as each nervous New Zealander fell to his fast, very accurate bowling. To take eight wickets in a day on a flat pitch suggested Walsh as a bowler of almost supernatural powers. On the first two days centuries by Jimmy Adams, Brian Lara and Junior Murray - his 101 not out was his first in Tests - lifted West Indies to 660 for five declared, the biggest score ever posted against New Zealand. New Zealand faced a huge defeat, relying on the Wellington weath- er to drop a merciful and wet blanket over the last two days. The West Indies batting was stunning to behold, everyone making the most of a plumb pitch. The New Zealand bowling attack was weakened by having Shane Thom- son on the field, but unable to bowl his off-spinners against the rampaging West Indies left-handers because of a leg injury suf- fered the day before the Test. Lara was all superb style, Adams all efficiency and expertise as he added 151 to his recent Test scores of 39,81, 125 not out, 23, 174, 78 not out and 13. Murray hit the ball fiercely, pounding the ball to the leg-side, and apparently his 88-ball century has only been bettered, as a maiden hundred in terms of speed by the fabled Jessop, who evidently took only 76 balls with a century against Australia at the Oval. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> Day 4, 13 Feb 95 Walsh`s 6-18 sets up heaviest defeat in New Zealand`s history - Don Cameron COURTNEY WALSH left the West Indies on Oct 3 as a worried fast bowler, uncertain how he would guide a fledgling side through the difficulties of a tour of Tests and one-day internationals in In- dia and New Zealand. The same Walsh, 32, will leave New Zealand for home tomorrow with a smile. He bowled West Indies to victory in the third Test against India to square the rubber one-all in December, and yes- terday slaughtered New Zealand in the second Test at the Basin Reserve. After winning the toss and watching his batsmen hurtle away to 660 for five declared, Walsh dismembered the New Zealand first innings, taking seven for 37 - his best in Tests - as they were bowled out for 216. Yesterday, Walsh had the equally impressive figures of six for 18 from 15 overs and two balls, and New Zealand were dismissed for 122. West Indies won by an innings and 322 runs - the biggest margin of victory in a Test for 36 years and the heaviest defeat in New Zealand`s history. The win came before lunch on the fourth day, giving the West In- dies a day`s holiday before they leave for home. Walsh looks good for many more years at the top But on his return, Walsh will not be demanding the right to hold the captaincy against Australia at home and England on tour. "I came into cricket as a player and that is how I want to leave it, just as a player, " said Walsh after the match. Richie Richardson stood down due to extreme fatigue, and Walsh added: "If Richie is in good form and wants the captaincy, it is his." On his Wellington form, Walsh looks good for many more years at the top. While other bowlers, including Curtly Ambrose, could not extract anything from a placid pitch, Walsh made the occasional ball jump and others cut back from outside the right-hander`s off stump. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by Rahul.Chandran (phaedrus@*.cis.yale.edu)