Gayle leads the way

Chris Gayle's eighth Test ton was more patient than many of his previous centuries

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A patient unbeaten century by captain Chris Gayle earned West Indies a 214-run lead heading into the final day of the second Test against New Zealand in Napier.

It was the first time Gayle had reached three figures in a Test since his knock of 317 against South Africa in April 2005.

And his eighth Test hundred could not have come at a better time for his side, who were left reeling on 106 for four early in the day after Jeetan Patel struck twice in two balls to remove Xavier Marshall and dangerman Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Gayle's unbeaten 146 included six sixes, one of which landed on the roof of the stand at McLean Park, along with 13 fours.

In between these flashes of power-hitting he showed great patience and overcame a bout of cramp late in the day as he led his side to 278 for seven at stumps.

His 124-run stand with Brendan Nash, who scored his second successive half-century, came at a crucial time for his team following the dismissals of Marshall and Chanderpaul in the 16th over of the day.

Marshall edged behind and the ball was deflected by wicketkeeper Brendon McCullum to Ross Taylor, who took a comfortable catch.

But it was Chanderpaul's departure, when he hit a full toss straight back to Patel, which sparked scenes of jubilation in the New Zealand camp.

Nash survived the hat-trick ball and showed incredible patience against the spin of Daniel Vettori and Patel, who had figures of 3-59 at the lunch break.

The first hour of play produced plenty of drama. As well as the two wickets, New Zealand referred two other decisions to third umpire Mark Benson with no reward.

Brendan Nash's second successive half-century confirmed him as a crucial middle-order presence

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McCullum failed to gather an edge behind by Marshall, while Gayle was quick to punish some loose deliveries.

His third six of the innings brought up his fifty in 65 balls, the 54 also including four boundaries.

The pair batted through the second session with Gayle reaching his hundred with a nervy single after a rare misfield by Patel.

It took the tall left-hander 14 overs to move from 91 to his century.

James Franklin came out firing for the final session with a fiery spell to Nash.

After taking a couple of blows to the body Nash struck his ninth boundary to take him to 65 but another bouncer hit his gloves on the way through and Jamie How took the catch.

That brought Denesh Ramdin to the crease but he struggled from the start against Vettori’s variation.

Ultimately, Franklin tempted Ramdin to flash at a wider delivery which Daniel Flynn took at point.

Jerome Taylor could not repeat his heroics of Dunedin and followed his team-mate back to the pavilion shortly before the close, trapped in front by Iain O’Brien.

How failed to hold on to a simple slip catch, allowing Fidel Edwards, to remain one not out at stumps.