Greaves' 202 earns the West Indies a draw with New Zealand in the 1st test

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand (AP) — Justin Greaves made an unbeaten 202 in a 230-run partnership with Kemar Roach as the West Indies won an endurance contest against a threadbare New Zealand attack Saturday to draw the first test after being set 531 to win.

The West Indies’ second innings of 457-6 was the highest fourth-innings score since tests have been limited to five days. At times they flirted with the highest winning run chase in history Saturday until with six wickets down in the last session Greaves and Roach finally put up the shutters.

Greaves batted for almost 9 1-2 hours, first in a 196-run partnership with Shai Hope, who made 140 before being only of only two West Indies batters dismissed on the final day. Roach, who finished 58 not out, faced 233 balls to add a half century to his five-wicket bag in the New Zealand second innings.

“Resilient is the word we’ve thrown around in the dressing room a lot so for me to to there at the end of the day was really important. Anything for the team at the end of the day,” Greaves said.

“It’s a special, special day for me, a special day for the team. We were pretty much up against it."

At the same time, New Zealand’s heavily depleted attack toiled through part of the fourth day and all of the final day with only two fit seamers, both novices, a spin bowling allrounder and a part-time spinner. New Zealand lacked the armory on a flat pitch to take the six wickets it needed on the fifth day to win the match and take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

After injuries to the attack spearhead Matt Henry and to medium pace allrounder Nathan Smith, the only fit pacers New Zealand had were Jacob Duffy and Zak Foulkes, both playing in their first test at home and only the second test of their careers.

New Zealand seemed poised to complete a convincing first-test victory on the fourth day when, after setting the West Indies a mammoth total to win, it had the tourists 72-4 early in the second session.

Greaves and Roach gave only a couple of chances to the field in all of the final day. New Zealand exhausted its reviews early in the day and paid the price when an lbw appeal and an appeal for a catch behind against Roach both were declined by the umpires and shown to be out on replay.

New Zealand had the upper hand in the match from the end of the first innings when it dismissed the West Indies for 167 in reply to its 231. Kane Williamson top-scored with 52 in New Zealand’s first innings in his first test since 2024. Hope made 56 and Tagenarine Chanderpaul 52 in the West Indies’ reply.

Hope’s outstanding performance was elevated by the fact he battled an eye infection in both innings and had to bat in sunglasses.

The West Indies resumed on the final day at 212-4 with Hope 111 and Greaves already 55. Hope and wicketkeeper Tevin Imlach both were out close to lunch but those were the last wickets to fall in the day.

New Zealand and the West Indies both took four points, their first points in the new World Test Championship cycle. The second test begins in Wellington on Wednesday.

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

New Zealand players walk off at the end of Day 5 of their cricket test match against the West Indies in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

West Indies' Justin Greaves is bothered by a high delivery from New Zealand on Day 5 of their cricket test match in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Chris Symes/Photosport via AP)

New Zealand's captain Tom Latham kneels on the ground late on Day 5 of their cricket test match against the West Indies in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

West Indies' Justin Greaves raises his bat after scoring 200 runs against New Zealand on Day 5 of their cricket test match in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

West Indies' Justin Greaves, right, celebrates with teammate Kemar Roach, center, after scoring 200 runs against New Zealand on Day 5 of their cricket test match in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

New Zealand's Jacob Duffy, center, celebrates the wicket of West Indies player Shai Hope on Day 5 of their cricket test match in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Chris Symes/Photosport via AP)

New Zealand's Tom Latham, left, celebrates the wicket of the West Indies' Shai Hope on Day 5 of their cricket test match in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Andrew Cornaga/Photosport via AP)

West Indies' Shai Hope, right, bats in front of New Zealand's Tom Blundell on Day 5 of their cricket test match in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Chris Symes/Photosport via AP)

New Zealand's Rachin Ravindra fields against the West Indies on Day 5 of their cricket test match in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Chris Symes/Photosport via AP)

West Indies' Shai Hope bats against New Zealand on Day 5 of their cricket test match in Christchurch, New Zealand, Saturday, Dec. 6, 2025. (Chris Symes/Photosport via AP)

BANGKOK (AP) — The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil briefly topped $100 a barrel early Thursday, just days after it spiked near $120 in the latest jolts to financial markets and the global economy as a whole.

Oil prices initially shot more than 9% higher as supply concerns worsened with Iranian attacks on commercial shipping around the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. campaign of airstrikes in Iran is now in its 13th day.

U.S. benchmark crude oil jumped 4.5% to about $91 a barrel. Brent, the international standard, was trading 5.3% higher at about $97 per barrel.

Iran has escalated its attacks aimed at generating enough global economic pain to pressure the United States and Israel to end the war. But there was no sign the conflict was subsiding.

Iran has targeted oil fields and refineries in Gulf Arab nations and effectively stopped cargo traffic through the narrow Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of all traded oil passes.

In response, the International Energy Agency agreed Wednesday to release 400 million barrels of oil, the largest volume of emergency oil reserves in its history, in a bid to counter the war’s effects on energy markets. The U.S. planned to release 172 million barrels of oil next week from its Strategic Petroleum Reserve to combat steep prices.

The IEA’s announcement came a day after energy ministers from the Group of Seven — the leading industrialized nations of Canada, the United States, France, Italy, Japan, Germany and Britain — met in Paris to look at ways to bring down prices.

But the continued strife and uncertainty have fueled speculation prices could push still higher, and that pulled shares lower.

The future for the S&P 500 lost 0.4% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average was 0.5% lower.

Germany's DAX lost 0.4% to 23,533.60, while the CAC 40 in Paris lost 0.7% to 7,982.64. Britain's FTSE 100 sank 0.7% to 10,285.91.

During Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 fell 1% to 54,452.96. In South Korea, the Kospi lost 0.5% to 5,583.25, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng gave up 0.7% to 25,716.76.

The Shanghai Composite index shed 0.1% to 4,129.10 and in Australia, the S&P/ASX 200 dropped 1.3% to 8,629.00.

On Wednesday, U.S. stocks were little changed as the S&P 500 edged 0.1% lower for a second day of modest moves following a wild stretch caused by the war with Iran. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.6%, to its lowest level this year, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.1%.

Since the start of the war, sharp moves for oil prices have triggered swings up and down for financial markets worldwide, sometimes by the hour. Oil prices briefly spiked to their highest levels since 2022 this week because of the possibility that production in the Middle East could be blocked for a long time, which in turn raised worries about a surge of debilitating inflation for the global economy.

In a report, Oxford Economics said “the swings in Brent crude oil prices over the past several days are eye-catching and odds are volatility will remain because of the absence of a timeline for when the conflict will de-escalate and when the Strait of Hormuz, which is effectively closed, will see traffic begin to recover.”

The level of volatility suggests that depending on news developments, oil prices could spike as high as $140 per barrel, it said.

A report released Wednesday showed U.S. consumers paid prices for groceries, gasoline and other costs of living that were 2.4% higher in February than a year earlier.

That's the same level as the month before and better than the 2.5% that economists expected, but it remains above the Federal Reserve's 2% target and doesn’t include the spike in gasoline prices this month due to the war.

High inflation combined with a stagnating economy would create a worst-case scenario called “stagflation” that the Federal Reserve has no good tools to fix. Stagflation fears are rising not just because of higher oil prices but also because of weakness in hiring by U.S. employers.

In other dealings early Thursday, the dollar fell to 158.84 Japanese yen from 158.95 yen. The euro fell to $1.1553 from $1.1566.

Gas prices are displayed at a station Wednesday, March 11, 2026, in Evanston Ill. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Pedestrians mill about outside the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

The New York Stock Exchange is seen in New York, Friday, March 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Traders work on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Tuesday, March 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)