New Zealand 131 for 4 in 23 overs (Taylor 47*, Latham 37*) v West Indies
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
On a festive day in front of a festive crowd, rain frustrated both players and fans for a better part of five hours after West Indies landed the early punches on Boxing day in Christchurch. The third and final ODI, effectively a dead rubber but yet with plenty at stake for the visitors as they aim to find an ideal balance ahead of the 2019 World Cup qualifiers in March, was veering towards an abandonment.
With the clock ticking, the rain related to allow the match officials to reduce the contest to 23 overs a side. New Zealand, who had recovered from early blows to move to 83 for 3 in 19 overs after electing to bat, coming out swinging.
Tom Latham first and Henry Nicholls picked off crucial boundaries in the end overs by unsettling West Indies’ predictable lengths. Ross Taylor, who helped initiate the recovery from 26 for 3, lent the finishing touches by picking two boundaries in the final over that went for 16. Taylor was the top scorer with 44 not out as New Zealand added 48 off the last four overs to finish with 131 for 4. The DLS method added a further 34 to their score, leaving West Indies a target of 166 to record their first win on tour.
On a surface that had pace and bounce, it was the fast bowlers who enjoyed the early spoils, Taylor and Latham revived them with a steady 57-run stand when the covers came rushing in for the first time. The intensity of rain at one point was such that the makeshift press box tent came crashing down, forcing the security officials to evacuate fans at that side of the ground.
A frustrating wait of close to three hours looked set to end, with umpires deeming the outfield fit enough for a 33-overs-a-side contest, only for the rains to return five minutes before resumption. Then there was another inspection, following which the match was reduced to 27 overs. It drizzled again. Just as the threat of an abandonment surfaced, the rains relented again for the umpires to truncate the game further to 24 overs, before they finally settled on 23.
In whatever little play that was possible before that, it was quite evident that this was an excellent toss to lose for West Indies. Jason Holder, the West Indies captain, kept getting the ball to rear up at awkward lengths at New Zealand’s openers. George Worker, in a bid to break the shackles, chopped on against Sheldon Cottrell, the left-arm seamer.
Neil Broom, brought back into the side and tested at the crucial No. 3 spot in place of the rested Kane Williamson, didn’t inspire much confidence. Under pressure to get a big score after a failure in the second ODI, he was out caught in the slips by the returning Chris Gayle while attempting to cut a delivery that wasn’t all that short. Off the next over, the sixth, Colin Munro was out as he nicked to Gayle again at first slip, this time off Holder to leave New Zealand wobbling.
By now, West Indies were charged up, so much that they went up for an optimistic review despite being unsure of an lbw decision off Tom Latham, the New Zealand captain. Replays confirmed the length ball that was angling away would’ve missed the stumps. It is a review West Indies may have wanted to use when Taylor survived a strong caught behind appeal in an attempt to play the hook shot off Cottrell.
Shannon Gabriel was introduced in the 14th over, surprisingly behind even Nikita Miller, the left-arm spinner who was returning to the ODI side for the first time since the 2015 World Cup. He began waywardly, being picked away by Taylor for two boundaries square of the wicket on the off side. In a bid to strengthen that side, the slip came off, only for the final delivery of that over racing past the cordon off a thick outside edge.
Holder was a touch guilty of slipping into the defensive as early as the 13th over, when deep point and long-off were in place for Miller, as West Indies allowed the game to drift ever-so-slightly. It remains to be seen if this may have cost them some crucial runs.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo