Captain Shai Hope was a man on a mission as his unbeaten 109 off 69 balls powered West Indies and rescued them from a precarious position to get to 247/9 in 34 overs in rain reduced game which is a competitive score on the board. New Zealand bowled decently well with Nathan Smith picking up 4 wickets and Kyle Jamieson picking up 3 wickets. This is a good batting pitch but New Zealand has to bat well to win this.
Kyle Jamieson’s double strike pegs West Indies back under challenging conditions
Put into bat first under overcast conditions and rain reduced 34-over game, John Campbell and Ackeem Auguste came out to bat for West Indies while Matt Henry had ball in hand for New Zealand. Henry started with a maiden. Kyle Jamieson had ball in hand from the other end and he too started with a maiden. Henry continued as Auguste got a streaky boundary away past the inside edge to the fine leg fence. Jamieson bowled another quiet over.
Henry continued as Auguste stepped out and made it a half-volley and went over the bowler’s head for a boundary. Jamieson struck for New Zealand as he removed Campbell for 4 off 17 balls. Fuller length but shaping away from the batter. Campbell looked to swing it across the line and got a leading edge to deep third man fielder. Blair Tickner stationed there stumbled a bit but took the catch. Keacy Carty came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway. Henry continued and bowled a decent over.
West Indies were 20/1 in 7 overs as we came to the end of the powerplay under revised playing conditions. Jamieson continued after the powerplay and bowled another tight over. Blair Tickner came into the attack next as Auguste charged at it and hit it over the bowler’s head for a boundary. Carty got into the act as he climbed onto this one and sent it over covers for a boundary.
Jamieson continued and gifted 5 wides to the batting side as a bonus. But Jamieson hit back and got rid of Carty for 7 off 12 balls with a boundary to his name. Jamieson bowled a full ball shaping away outside the off-stump. Carty without any footwork just threw the bat at it and found and outside edge that went straight to the point fielder. Shai Hope the captain came to the crease and got off the mark with a brace as West Indies reached 40/2 in 10 overs.
Nathan Smith’s double strike pushes West Indies further back; Shai Hope fights for his side
Tickner continued as Hope took him on by pressing back and swivelling across to pull it over midwicket for a boundary to the deep midwicket region. Hope once again crunched Tickner over extra covers for a boundary as Hope reached 6000 ODI runs. Nathan Smith came into the attack next. He overstepped and Hope hit the free hit by clearing his front leg and pumped it downtown for the maximum over the bowler’s head. Smith bounced back and got rid of Auguste for 22 off 31 balls with 3 fours to his name.
Smith bowled back of a length and around the off-stump skidding through with some extra bounce. Ackeem cleared his front leg away and gave himself room to attempt a pull shot. The extra bounce meant he failed to execute the shot and ended up getting a top edge to midwicket where Jamieson backtracked and took the catch. Sherfane Rutherford came out to bat next.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner came into the attack next. Hope took him on by clearing his front leg and pumping the ball over deep midwicket for the maximum. Smith continued as Rutherford picked it up and sent it over square leg for the maximum. Rutherford did it again as he powered Smith by walking down the wicket and picked it up to deposit over deep square leg for the maximum. Santner continued and got his first wicket as he removed Rutherford for 13 off 9 balls with 2 sixes to his name.
Santner bowled it a bit quicker and shorter around the middle stump with the ball holding a bit in the surface and came a bit later than the batter would have expected it to be. He cleared his front leg away and tried to heave it away and ended up mistiming it off the upper half of the bat towards deep midwicket. Conway runs across to his left from that position and dived forward to pouch it safely before tumbling down into the ground. Roston Chase came out to bat next. He got off the mark straightaway.
Smith then got another as he removed Chase for 2 off 5 balls. Smith from wide of the crease bowled on a length and kept the line around the off-stump. He got the ball to bring back in from over the wicket. Chase was caught in the crease and failed to judge the length of the ball. He tried to adjust on his back foot but got late. The ball nipped back in and beat the inside edge of the bat before rattling to the top of off-stump. Justin Greaves came out to bat next and got off the mark as well straightaway.
Santner continued and thought he had gotten rid of Greaves as the umpire gave it OUT. The DRS was taken by Greaves and got it overturned to NOT OUT. West Indies were in a spot of bother at 91/5 in 17 overs when we paused for the Drinks Break. Smith continued after the break and bowled a decent over. Santner bowled another decent over. Tickner came back into the attack as the 100 came up for the West Indies in 19.3 overs. Greaves managed to get a triple as after 20 overs, West Indies were 105/5 in 20 overs.
Shai Hope’s unbeaten brilliant ton alongside support from others powers West Indies to 247/9
Santner continued and bowled a decent over. Tickner returned to the attack as Conway did a great job at deep square leg to keep the ball in play but lost balance to not hold onto the catch. Hope took Tickner on as he got the outside edge that flew over third man for the maximum. Greaves got into the act as he upper cut it over third man for the maximum. Santner bowled another tight over. Smith continued as Hope got to his fifty in 42 balls as he held the innings together. Smith got another as he removed Greaves for 22 off 27 balls with a maximum to his name.
Smith bowled a quick short ball at the stumps. Greaves was late on the pull shot as he skied it straight up in the air. Bracewell came in from covers to take a safe catch. Romario Shepherd came into the crease next. Santner continued as Hope gave himself room and drove the ball through the gap between covers and long-off for a boundary. West Indies reached 136/6 in 25 overs.
Smith continued and gifted 5 wides to the batting side. Hope clobbered him by pulling it over midwicket for a boundary. Henry came back into the attack as Shepherd took him on with power by climbing onto the ball and sent it over wide long-on for the maximum. Shepherd was on a roll as he pulled it high and handsome over midwicket for the maximum. Hope then hit Henry for a straight drive down the ground past mid-on for a boundary.
Tickner continued as Shepherd bludgeoned and smashed it over deep backward square leg for the maximum. Tickner hit back and got rid of Shepherd for 22 off 14 balls with 3 sixes to his name. Tickner bowled a short of a length outside the off-stump. Shepherd remained deep in the crease and tried to use the pace of the bowler. The ball got extra bounce and ended up getting a top edge that flew towards deep third man. Matt Henry kept his eyes on the ball to get across to his left and pouched it around his knees. Matthew Forde came out to bat next.
Hope then hit Henry for a boundary by reverse scooping it over the keeper for a boundary. Hope once again hit Henry for a boundary by throwing his hands at it and the ball beat the sweeper cover for a boundary. Hope managed to get a streaky boundary away as the top edge flew over fine leg for a boundary. Tickner continued as Forde survived a caught behind appeal as the umpire said no and the DRS was burnt as well. Hope then smashed the bowler through cover and mid-off for a boundary. Hope then crunched Tickner through the covers for a crisp boundary. The 200 came up for West Indies in 30 overs.
Jamieson came back into the attack as Forde took him down by hitting him for a hat-trick of boundaries and followed it up with the maximum as well. Smith came back into the attack and removed Forde for 21 off 11 balls with 3 fours and a maximum to his name. Smith bowled on the fuller side wide outside off-stump and a slower one at that. Forde cleared his front leg away and tried to go inside out and looked to go over extra cover but played it away from his body. He ended up chipping it straight to extra cover fielder as Young took an easy catch. Shamar Springer came out to bat and got off the mark soon.
Springer then took on Henry and deposited him over mid-off for a boundary. Hope came back on strike and hit the low full toss past diving covers for a boundary and then the next ball was sliced and crunched past cover point for another boundary as he moved to 98. Jamieson came to bowl the final over of the innings and he removed Springer for 6 off 9 balls with one four to his name.
Jamieson bowled a back of a length and just outside the off-stump. The ball had extra bounce. Springer backed away and opened his stance further and tried to go over covers and ended up playing from the cue end of the bat to extra cover where Young moved forward to take the catch. Jayden Seales came out to bat and got off the mark straightaway. Hope was back on strike and got to his century with a maximum as he pumped the length ball down the ground for the maximum and got to his hundred in 66 balls as this was his 19th ODI hundred. Hope managed to get a boundary away by throwing his hands and sliced it over short third man for a boundary.
In the end, West Indies did really well from a precarious position to get to 247/9 in 34 overs with Hope remaining unbeaten on 109 off 69 balls with 13 fours and 4 sixes to his name while Seales was unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball. 18 extras given by the fielding side.
New Zealand bowled decently well with Nathan Smith leading the way with 4/42 in 7 overs. Kyle Jamieson was good with the new ball and finished with 3/44 in 7 overs. Mitchell Santner finished with 1/35 in 7 overs. Blair Tickner picked up 1/61 in 6 overs. Matt Henry had an off-day with figures of 0/62 in 7 overs. This means New Zealand needs 248 runs to win off 34 overs to seal the series 2-0 with a game to spare.
What Lies Ahead for New Zealand and West Indies
West Indies captain Shai Hope has played a blinder and taken his side to a competitive score which will take some chasing despite this being a belter of a track. West Indies have runs on the board and New Zealand will have to bat out of their skins to win this match tonight. It’s not going to be easy. Advantage West Indies at the interval.
Let’s see how the chase plays out from here.
Also Read:Â NZ VS WI: New Zealand Hold Their Nerves To Draw First Blood In ODI Series.