Roston Chase did not hold back on his own performance as West Indies captain after his team’s comprehensive 323-run defeat in the third and final Test against New Zealand.

“I didn’t really lead from the front on the field,” he said after his side went down in the third Test and lost the series 2-0. “I thought that leading, in terms of words and encouragement and inspiring the team, that was all good, but in terms of going out there and producing for the team and letting the team have someone to look up to as a leader, I thought I let myself down and the team down as well.”

All-rounder Chase scored just 42 runs in six innings in the series for an average of 7.00 and took a mere three wickets at 119.00.

On the fifth and final day yesterday, Chase managed just five as West Indies crumbled for 138 on a deteriorating pitch in pursuit of 462 for victory.

“We thought it would have spun but we didn’t look for it to deteriorate as much as it did with the cracks and even bounce,” Chase said. “After the first day, we could see a lot of green coming off of the wicket, unlike the other wickets where it was green for a longer period. I thought that this wicket got brown very, very fast, so we were expecting the spin with the dryness in the wicket, but the cracks and variable bounce, we were not looking for that.”

The West Indies’ resistance, which had been stoic for the first session on the final day, evaporated in a spectacular collapse from 87 for one, to 138 all out in the final session.

The tourists had begun the day with disciplined intent. Openers Brandon King and John Campbell survived the first hour, with King in particular looking assured on his way to a fluent 67. The pair took the score to 87 without loss, suggesting a long day of toil for the hosts.

The breakthrough, however, triggered a catastrophic chain reaction. Player-of-the-Series, Jacob Duffy, who claimed a career-best match haul of nine for 128, extracted awkward bounce and forced King to glove to gully.

From there, the innings unravelled at dizzying speed. Spinner Ajaz Patel, claiming his best home figures – three for 23 yesterday, and six for 136 for the match – removed Campbell (16) and Kavem Hodge (zero) in quick succession, the latter to a spectacular reflex catch by Rachin Ravindra at short-leg.

Duffy then took centre stage, running through the middle order with a masterclass in hostile seam bowling. Alick Athanaze (two) and Justin Greaves (zero) fell to edges behind, and when Duffy removed captain Roston Chase for 5 with a sharp bouncer after lunch, the West Indies had slumped to 104 for six.

The resistance of Shai Hope, who absorbed 78 balls for just three runs, was ended by Patel via DRS, and the tail offered only fleeting defiance.

Duffy returned with the new ball to clean bowl Jayden Sealed and complete his five-wicket haul (five for 42), sealing the match and the series.

The victory was built on a mammoth first-innings total of 575 for eight declared, founded on a historic opening stand. Devon Conway (227) and Tom Latham (137) became the first-ever opening pair to score centuries in both innings of a Test, a record-breaking platform that ultimately gave New Zealand’s bowlers an insurmountable advantage to attack with.

For the West Indies, a morning of promise dissolved into familiar fragility, their final nine wickets adding just 51 runs to hand New Zealand a comprehensive and commanding series win.

“Disappointed in the result,” Chase admitted. And the WI captain said getting their first points of the new World Test Championship cycle was not enough of a takeaway from this series.

West Indies batted all day on the final day of the first Test at Christchurch to earn a draw.

“We always wanted to win one, so we would have never sold ourselves short and just go for those four points,” Chase said, but added that after, “two difficult series” against Australia and India, “we were still happy that we got off the mark.”