New Zealand would have their first Test win under captain Brendon McCullum if the weather in Dunedin had played its part, coach Mike Hesson says.

The home side were chasing 112 to win the opening Test against the West Indies but stumbled early to lose four quick wickets, prompting a period of consolidation, and when the skies opened five minutes before tea they were still 33 runs short of victory.

Hesson says the forecast was for showers and not the heavy downpour that set in and refused to budge from above University Oval, much to the team’s chagrin.

“When you play as well as that and you don’t get a result, you’re obviously disappointed.

“We’ve probably played pretty close to the perfect Test and we probably needed another 20 minutes and unfortunately we didn’t get it,” he said prior to the team heading to Wellington for the second Test starting on Wednesday.

It is the second time this year New Zealand have come close to giving McCullum his first victory as skipper after they fell one-wicket short against England at Eden Park.

“We’re starting to get ourselves into dominant positions – we just haven’t got over the line. It’s frustrating,” Hesson said.

But he’s confident the team, winless in 10 Tests, is now building consistency to their cricket that will reap rewards, eventually.

“The team’s starting to turn a corner … sure we’d love the wins in the column, but I think you’ve got to learn to draw first and put yourselves in positions to win. Twenty more minutes of cricket and we would have had a Test win.”

Kane Williamson, who hit a century for Bay of Plenty in a Hawke Cup match on Saturday, will come back into line-up provided the thumb injury that forced him to miss the Dunedin Test was not aggravated in the field.

It means Aaron Redmond is set to drop out while Hesson said he was mulling changes to the attack after they sent down 224 overs in back-to-back innings.

The bowlers will have the day off to recover on Monday and Hesson will assess their fitness and the condition of the Basin Reserve pitch before deciding on the make-up for the Test.

Meanwhile, West Indies opener Kraigg Brathwaite is due to arrive in Wellington on Monday after missing the first Test due to visa issues.

Captain Darren Sammy is also hopeful of playing a full part in the Test despite picking up a gluteal muscle injury in Dunedin.