West Indies debutant Jamaica's Jermaine Blackwood (left) received his Test cap from West Indies legend Brian Lara on the first day of the second Test against New Zealand at Queen's Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago yesterday. - AP

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad:

Jerome Taylor starred with the ball as West Indies dismissed New Zealand for 221 on the opening day of the second Test match at Queen's Park Oval yesterday.

Following the defeat in the opening match, skipper Denesh Ramdin called for a fightback and the Windies responded brilliantly with the ball after the visitors won the toss and elected to bat first.

Taylor continued his impressive return to the international stage with figures of 17-5-34-4 and was well supported by left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn, who took 3-73 off 28.4 overs. Fast bowler Shannon Gabriel also bowled well to take 2-43. The West Indies were six for one at the close.

Speaking after the day's play, Taylor said the key to his success was patience. He added that the presence of fast bowling legend Sir Curtly Ambrose in the dressing room is a major plus.

good job

"It's the kind of pitch that you have to put in something to get something out of it. You have to put in that hard work. After the first session, we went back out knowing that we had to give ourselves a chance to get into the game, and just be a bit more patient. It just goes to show that whenever you're patient and you're disciplined it pays off," said the 29-year-old.

"We spoke about how they got away from us in the first session and decided we had to make amends and cut down the run rate and look to get some wickets in between. I think we did a good job."

early breakthrough

Taylor made the early breakthrough when he had Hamish Rutherford caught at slip by Chris Gayle. He returned to trigger a middle order collapse with three more wickets in the final session - all caught behind the bat - two by Gayle at slip and the other by the keeper. New Zealand slipped from 120-1 to lose their last nine wickets for 101 runs.

"I have been having a lot of talks with Sir Curtly and he is someone that you can learn a lot from in terms of fast bowling. He is passing on a lot of the knowledge and that is something that is vital for us," Taylor said.

West Indies' Jerome Taylor in action on the opening day of the second Test match against New Zealand in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, yesterday.