WELLINGTON, New Zealand — West Indies head coach Daren Sammy did not mince words after another heavy setback on New Zealand soil, delivering a searing assessment of his team’s nine-wicket loss in the second Test at the Basin Reserve.
Visibly frustrated, Sammy described the performance as a backward slide at a moment when forward momentum was desperately needed.
The match was effectively decided within three days, as the visitors were comprehensively outplayed and dismissed for 205 and 128, leaving New Zealand with a straightforward chase to seal victory.
Bowlers compete, batting falters
Despite the lopsided result, Sammy acknowledged the effort of his bowling unit, which shared the wickets in New Zealand’s first innings. Anderson Phillip led the way, finishing with four wickets across the match.
However, any discipline shown with the ball was undone by an anemic batting display. Shai Hope’s 47 and John Campbell’s 44 stood as the highest individual scores, grim indicators of a collective failure that left the team without a foundation or fight.
History repeats itself in Wellington
For Sammy, the collapse stirred painful memories of an all-too-familiar pattern.
“It shows every time we try to take a step forward, we take about two steps backwards,” Sammy stated. “It takes me back to 2013, where we drew the Test in Dunedin, came here, and lost inside three days. It’s just the consistency that we’re looking for.”
The coach’s comparison underscored his concern that isolated good performances continue to be followed by sharp regression, eroding confidence and continuity.
Momentum lost, control gone
Sammy identified a recurring weakness that has plagued the side, an inability to control critical moments once they arise.
“We keep getting ourselves in good positions, but little moments switch the momentum, and in this Test match, once we lost the momentum, we lost it for a long period of time.”
Against a New Zealand attack that he conceded “answered the call,” West Indies failed to respond when the game demanded resilience and composure.
“Nobody stood up”: A blunt message to the tatsmen
While credit was given where due, Sammy’s sharpest words were directed at his batting unit, which he felt left the bowlers exposed and unsupported.
“In a team, you want people to step up when needed the most. In this Test match, nobody stood up for us,” he said.
“When you have runs not coming from the number seven and the number five positions, it puts a lot of pressure on the rest of the team. The bowlers are doing their job. It’s not the bowlers’ fault. I think it’s the batsmen that have to take more responsibility.”
The message was unambiguous: responsibility with the bat is no longer optional.
Christchurch blueprint offers hope
Despite the disappointment, Sammy pointed to the fighting draw in the first Test in Christchurch as proof that the team is capable of a vastly different outcome when individuals commit fully.
“You’ve seen in the first Test, when we take responsibility, and one or two people put their hands up and dig deep, we look like a different side.”
That performance, he suggested, remains the standard the team must rediscover.
West Indies now turn their attention to the third and final Test at Mount Maunganui, which begins on Wednesday, with Sammy making it clear that improvement must start with accountability, resilience, and the willingness of batsmen to “stand up” when the moment demands it.
