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Late afternoon rain cut two hours from the second day of West Indies? four-day match against Auckland yesterday, but there was still enough time for a wake-up call for their pacers.

When rain stopped play at tea the hosts had moved rather steadily to 120 for two wickets, in reply to the West Indies first innings, which finished before lunch at 380.

The remaining feature of the visitors? innings was the 86 not out by Ridley Jacobs. He moved from 52 not out overnight and needed support from the other end if he was to reach the century his lively batting deserved.

However, neither Franklyn Rose, Reon King nor Pedro Collins could withstand some busily effective Auckland bowling.

They were especially troubled by 27-year-old left-armer Richard Morgan, who marked his first big game for Auckland with a thoroughly deserved bag of five wickets for 75 from 26 overs of medium-fast swing.

So Jacobs was left high and dry, his 120-ball innings sparkling with three sixes and 11 fours, five of those coming in his lone attack this morning.

Morgan made the ball swing, using one inswinger to have Rose lbw, and a second to bowl King.

The feared West Indian fast-medium attack looked menacing while the new ball retained its hardness and sometimes gave sharp bounce.

Rose especially delivered three or four potent bouncers, but considering that openers Blair Pocock and Tim McIntosh were short of recent match-play and success, Rose, King and Collins should have made more impact.

Instead McIntosh, a fresh 21-year-old with New Zealand Under-19 experience behind him, was able to glide or deflect several fours to the open third-man boundary and play some crisp drives off his pads.

Pocock, a former New Zealand opening batsman, was more defensive, but they held together for just over two hours before he made a rare adventurous stroke at King and the edge was safely taken by Ricardo Powell at second slip. This wicket fell at 69.

At 98, Nehemiah Perry, after a huge bat-pad catch appeal had been turned down, forced McIntosh into a slightly loose shot and Jimmy Adams at short leg made a very difficult catch look easy.

Perry was a puzzle for the batsmen - and the spectators too - for he is listed as an off-spinner, but seemed to use a top-spinner sometimes, and at other times appeared to flick the ball from the back of his hands.

He finished with the deserved figures of one for 12 from ten overs. None of the batsmen chose to attack him, for his quickish flight through the air did not allow any attacking shots on the front foot.

But the best Auckland batsman, John Aiken, a stocky left-hander, picked up enough runs at the other end to finish with 34 not out, and he may have re-started a career which threatened to disappear.

The West Indian new-ball attack lacked bite and direction. They also offered in 49 overs no fewer that 15 no-balls, and will need to look at this as another part of their game which needs to be tidied up.