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North Sound (Antigua), July 28 (IANS/CMC) Openers Chris Gayle and Kieran Powell plundered career-defining hundreds with dominant batting, putting the West Indies in a superior position against New Zealand in the first Test here. Gayle celebrated his long-awaited return to Test whites with an even 150 - his 14th hundred in Tests - and Kieran Powell fulfilled his immense promise with 134 - his maiden hundred - to build the foundation on which the West Indies reached 442 for six Friday, replying to New Zealand's first innings total of 351, at the close on the third day, CMC reports. Assad Fudadin, another left-hander, enhanced his reputation with a resolute 55, Narsingh Deonarine was not out on 54, and Marlon Samuels made 28 to underline the West Indies' dominance on a true Vivian Richards Cricket Ground pitch. Before lunch, Gayle, playing a Test for the first time in more than 19 months, reached his milestone from 149 balls, when he greeted Chris Martin's first ball of the day, a short, rising delivery, with a pull high over mid-wicket for his second six. He removed his helmet and held his arms aloft in triumph for several seconds before waving his bat to the four corners of the ground in celebration. After lunch, Powell, playing in only his 10th Test, gave the modest crowd reason to celebrate for the second time in the day, when he reached his hundred in the second over after lunch. A graduate from the first class of the Sagicor West Indies High Performance Centre, he authoritatively pulled an innocuous short, rising delivery from Neil Wagner through backward square leg for his 16th four, before running down the pitch, leaping and punching in the air in joy. The two tall, easy-going left-handers put on 254 for the first wicket - the highest West Indies opening stand since Gayle and Daren Ganga put on 214 against Zimbabwe 11 years ago in Bulawayo. After the West Indies resumed from their overnight total of 145 without loss, Gayle lofted New Zealand's bespectacled, champion left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori for a six over long-off to move to 95 before dispatching Martin to reach his hundred. Powell showed his class with a few well-executed boundaries after a 20-minute stoppage, when rain offered New Zealand temporary respite about 40 minutes after the start. He struck two boundaries in Martin's 13th over before he moved into the 90s, when he scorched the turf with a firm sweep off Vettori through mid-wicket for his 15th four. But it was not all one-way traffic for West Indies, as the Black Caps' bowlers, Wagner and Vettori in particular, bowled purposeful spells, and came close to making the breakthrough just prior to lunch. Gayle, on 142, again had a huge slice of fortune, when wicketkeeper Kruger van Wyk and Ross Taylor both failed to grab a chance, after he edged playing defensively forward to Kane Williamson's part-time off-spin. Next delivery, Powell too, almost gifted his wicket on 95, when he popped a delivery from the same bowler just over the head of the mid-wicket fielder off the leading edge, as the West Indies reached 245 without loss at the interval. After lunch, Powell followed up Gayle with his hundred before New Zealand claimed them, as West Indies reached 352 for two at tea. --IANS/CMC bs/vt
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