NAPIER, New Zealand (CMC):

Fiery pacer Fidel Edwards is 'thrilled' about his career-best seven-wicket haul that kept West Indies competitive against New Zealand on yesterday's third day of the second Test at McLean Park.

His superb haul of seven for 87 off 29.4 overs helped dismiss New Zealand for 371 in reply to West Indies first innings 307 - a first innings lead of 64 - after the home side had been ominously poised at 316 for four in the post-lunch session.

"I felt really good with the way the ball was coming out and obviously I'm thrilled to get my career-best figures," said Edwards, whose hostile bowling unsettled the New Zealand batsmen.

When bad light stopped play, the Windies were on 62 for two batting a second time.

Resuming play

Play will resume today at 11:53 a.m. (yesterday evening - 6:53 p.m. Eastern Caribbean Time/5:53 p.m. Jamaica Time).

In surpassing his previous best figures, five for 36 in Test and five for 22 in first-class cricket, Edwards declared that he capitalised on the momentum he had going for him.

"You could say it was my day and I decided to make the most of it. Hopefully, it was the kind of performance that could see my team go on to win the Test match and with it the series. That would be wonderful for us," he added.

Playing in his 36th Test match, Edwards used the short ball to cause discomfort to the New Zealand batsmen.

"It is still a good batting pitch, so I tried to mix up my deliveries as much as possible. You had to do something to get wickets out there and I looked at all my options. Using the short ball was just part of the plan to unsettle the New Zealand batsmen and it worked some of the time," said the 26-year-old.

"The game is back at square one. We need to get a total on the board which we can defend in the fourth innings of the match."

100 WICKETS

It was a good weekend for Edwards. On Saturday, he celebrated reaching 100 wickets in Test cricket.

"I always dreamed of reaching this landmark and I'm very happy I got there. It feels special. I was waiting a while for it and I believe I bowled well," he said.

The prized 100th came when he deceived Daniel Flynn with a slower ball and clutched a return catch.

"I was giving him some short stuff, so I decided to slip in a slower ball to see how he would handle it. He pushed it back and I was happy when I took the catch," Edwards said.

The Barbadian joined his older brother Pedro Collins in 'triple figures'. Collins, a left-arm seamer, took 106 wickets in 32 Tests.

"We are the first brothers to each take 100 Test wickets, so that added a bit extra to the moment. I spoke to 'Peddy' before the match and he told me it was a chance to create history, so that was a bit of added motivation as well," added Edwards.