West Indies captain, Jason Holder, has called on the team to dig in a little deeper following a 134 runs defeat at the hands of New Zealand on Saturday.

Once again, the West Indies top order failed to deliver.  In fact, over two innings the team’s top four batsmen combined for 83, three runs less than New Zealand opener Tom Latham’s first innings score of 86.  The team’s lone resistance at the crease came from the middle and lower order, where Jermaine Blackwood got 104, with bowler Alzarri Joseph adding a hard-fought 86.

Following New Zealand’s declaration at 519 for 7, the West Indies top order of Kraigg Brathwaite and John Campbell had done well to see out the evening session at 49 without loss, but things fell apart quickly the next day with the team eventually collapsing for 138. 

On the follow-on, the top order once again did not stick around too long, but Blackwood and Joseph pushed the team to 247, still well short of New Zealand’s first innings total.

“We obviously didn’t bat well this Test match.  I think in the recent past our batting has been inconsistent and that’s been our problem in the last couple of years,” Holder said, following the match.

“From here to Wellington we just have to switch on a little bit more, dig a little deeper.  I just feel that upfront in the initial stage of our innings we just need to buckle down a little bit more, fight a little bit harder in those tough periods to get through,” he added.

“You saw when New Zealand spent a day in the field, they came out looking a little more jaded.  They are human.  We just need to make them bowl three, four spells, give ourselves a chance up front.”

The West Indies will face New Zealand in the second Test, at the Basin Reserve, in Wellington, beginning on Thursday.