Half centuries from Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Martin Guptill and Devon Conway helped New Zealand chase 302 rather comfortably in the decider of the three-match series against the Windies at the Kensington Oval, Barbados, on August 21.
Set 302 to win, New Zealand were dented in just the fourth over of the chase, with Jason Holder trapping opener Finn Allen leg-before for 3, with the latter fresh from his well-compiled match-winning 96 in the previous game.
Martin Guptill (57 off 64) and Devon Conway (56 off 63) then added 82 at more than five runs an over, but both fell within a space of five overs to leave the visitors at 128/3 at about the halfway mark. Another stabilizing act followed, this time between Tom Latham (69 off 75) and Daryl Mitchell (63 off 49). Latham, leading the side in the absence of injured Kane Williamson, struck six fours, so did Mitchell to go with a six as the pair added 120 for the fourth wicket.
When the two fell in quick succession, the Kiwis needed 43 off 40, and Jimmy Neesham (34* off 11), made a light work of the equation, striking a four and four sixes in an entertaining blitz.
Holder returned 2/37 from seven overs, while Kevin Sinclair conceded just 45 off his 10 on a day when most West Indies bowlers struggled for control.
Earlier, the Calypso Kings top-order contributed nearly 82% of the eventual team total of 301/8 after being put in to bat. Opener Shai Hope and Kyle Mayers added 173 in 34.5 overs, with the latter registering his second ODI ton, striking 12 fours and three sixes in a 110-ball 105. Hope’s rather slow 51 off 100 meant that West Indies needed a solid push, but both fell within a space of three balls, and West Indies kept losing wickets from one end at regularity thereafter.
However, skipper Nicholas Pooran, having come in at No.3, took it upon himself, unleashing a belligerent carnage with 91 off 55, striking four hits to the fence and nine over it. Alzarri Joseph’s unbeaten 20 off six helped the hosts get past 300.
Trent Boult, who had returned 3/18 from six overs in the second ODI, backed it up with 3/52 in a high-scoring outing. Latham was named the player of the match, while Mitchell Santner, who bagged four wickets while maintaining an economy of 3.43 through the three games, and scored valuable lower-order runs, was named the Player of the series.
Reflecting on the series-clinching win, Latham said:
“It was nice to contribute. The partnership between Daryl and me was set with a target in mind at the 40 overs mark. We did that quite well. We didn’t build stands in the first two games, we did that.
Neesham’s performance was the icing on top. It’s nice to come here where it’s been challenging to put up performances when the game is in the balance makes me happy.”
“Tough one. 300+ on that wicket felt good. One or two wickets more in the powerplay would have helped but they played well. When it got wet, we saw how tough it got. In hindsight, everyone will talk about starting slow. But we had discussed not giving away wickets to Boult and Southee and capitalize,”
said Pooran.
Brief scores
West Indies 301/8 in 50 overs (Mayers 105, Pooran 91; Boult 3-53) lost to New Zealand 307/5 in 47.1 overs (Latham 69, Mitchell 63, Guptill 57; Holder 2-37) by five wickets.
