New Zealand takes first Day

West Indies captain Chris Gayle took three wickets but hosts New Zealand closed today’s opening day of the first Test with a slight advantage on 226 for four at the University Oval.



Daniel Flynn has so far top scored for New Zealand with 95 his highest Test score before becoming the victim of test cricket’s new video review rules.



Flynn had batted almost four hours, and was approaching his first hundred when he was the subject of a leg before wicket appeal by Gayle.



Umpire Amiesh Saheba of India, in his debut test, turned it down but the West Indies captain then had the option of calling for a second opinion.



Rudi Koertzen decided the ball would have hit the wicket after watching TV replays, ending Flynn’s resistance.



Jesse Ryder also scored a half-century. He is unbeaten on 54 and will resume day two with Brendon McCallum, who is on 4.



Debuting opener Tim McIntosh made 34 after taking 44 minutes to score his first Test run.



Gayle ended with three for 42 from 20 overs, while Daren Powell had one for 33.



West Indies’ final 11 includes two Test newcomers – Australia-born left-handed batsman Brendan Nash, whose parents are Jamaican, and fast bowler Lionel Baker, the first player from Montserrat to play Test cricket.



The Test is the first of two with the second scheduled to start in Napier on December 19.