Shimron Hetmyer thrilled the Wellington gathering and TV viewing fans back in the West Indies with an array of exciting strokes AFP
The Windies were in a desperate position. New Zealand responded to their very inadequate 134 with 509 for 9 declared. The lead was therefore a daunting 375, meaning that the visitors' chances of drawing the game were slim, their chances of winning, non-existent.
With the events of the first innings still fresh in mind, every viewer knew the real battle began when Neil Wagner was handed the ball for the 16th over. The two openers, Kraigg Brathwaite and Kieron Powell had made a reasonably good start. But they had started well in the first innings as well, before Wagner came and dramatically undid all the good work they had done with his blistering short-pitched assault.
Would the Caribbean side crumble before him again, or would they adjust their tactics and improve their execution and stage a fightback?
Inevitably, there were a few early scares for the batsmen. Wagner went immediately to his short-ball tactics but they attacked him more and more purposefully this time round, and their slightly altered approach paid off. Powell, especially, was keen to go after the left-arm pacer, even pulling him for two sixes. But then, shortly afterwards, the left-hander got out rather tamely to Henry, patting a simple catch back to the bowler. He is a good-looking player, upright and elegant, especially when driving down the ground. But, too frequently does he allow the opposition an easy wicket. Too frequently is he the victim of soft dismissals.
Shimron Hetmyer is 20, almost 21. When the West Indies under-19 team triumphed at the youth World Cup in 2016, he was captain and one of their premier batsmen. Thrown in at three in the order, unfairly some argue, he stumbled against Pakistan in the Caribbean earlier this year and lost his place. Reinstated for this series he started off with an ungainly dismissal, fending off a Wagner bouncer in the first innings, and he had a few awkward moments, again against Wagner's short-pitched deliveries, at the start of his innings.
Thereafter, however, he unveiled a wide range of attacking strokes. His shot-making capacity is remarkable, almost Lara-esque. Like the great Trinidadian he is never reluctant to fire off one breathtaking stroke after another, and has the ability to hit even good deliveries to the boundary.
One might have thought, that given the fact he is only just returning to the side, and given that he made only 13 in the first innings, that circumspection would have been his first thought. But the resolute approach is as foreign to him as snowfall is to the Caribbean. His first, and probably only instinct, is to attack, and he thrilled the Wellington gathering and TV viewing fans back in the West Indies with an array of exciting strokes. His driving through the offside was emphatic, classy. And he was not afraid to loft spinner or pacer down the ground, twice sending them over the boundary for sixes.
He made 66, his first half century in Tests. His quite thrilling innings ended when he was caught by the extra-cover fielder off a top-edged pull. He faced 89 deliveries, struck eight fours and two sixes, and the suspicion is that more than a few New Zealand supporters would have loved for the entertainment to have continued a while longer.
When he arrived at the crease Brathwaite was on 27. He blew past the opener soon after they both passed 50, and when he got out Brathwaite was 52, having then faced 122 deliveries. The Barbadian is a different kind of player altogether; an accumulator rather than a fluent stroke-maker. He's a player more in the mold of Hetmyer's countryman and West Indies batting great, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who Brathwaite is known to admire. A batting line-up can accommodate all types.
As Hetmyer grows and navigates his way in the Test game, he will get better at constructing an innings. He will get better at playing each ball on merit, better at minimizing risk. He is likely to remain a flashy player, but will become more judicious in his shot selection and sturdier in defence.
Those who say he ought not to have been thrown in at three have a point. A slightly less demanding batting position would have been more suitable for a youngster with only 22 first-class games to his name. Ideally, he ought to have been afforded a less challenging introduction to the elite level of the game. He ought to have been eased in at five or six, say, rather than flung in at three in a struggling side.
The selectors would argue in mitigation, however, that the side is a very green one, made up mostly of youngsters without any great level of experience. Their options are therefore limited. If it were not Hetmyer at three then it would have been Shai Hope, who is settling in nicely at four, or Roston Chase or Sunil Ambris or Jermaine Blackwood. Also, Hetmyer is somewhat familiar with that position, having batted there for The Windies youth team and for Guyana. There are merits on both sides of the argument.
The Windies ended the day on 214 for 2, with Brathwaite on 79 and Hope on 21. The fourth day will be tough, as they still have a long and difficult road to travel if they are not to lose this Test. One good sign is that they have, in attendance at the crease, the two heroes of their historic win at Headingly a few months ago. If they are able to do anything approaching what they did there then the visitors might just escape defeat.
The Windies have the makings of what could be a very decent batting unit. Hope, Brathwaite and Chase have shown their abilities in the past. Hetmyer has unwrapped his enormous potential for all the cricket world to see. It will be interesting to see how he develops from here.
