Christchurch: Pacer Trent Boult (3/18) and spinner Mitchell Santner (3/15) helped New Zealand complete a clean sweep of the West Indies in their one-day series with a commanding 66-run victory in a rain-affected third and final match here Tuesday.
With the match reduced to 23-over-a-side, the West Indies were set a revised target of 166 in reply to New Zealand’s 131. In reply, they finished 99 for nine at the end, after recovering from an initial collapse which saw them at nine for five and threatening Zimbabwe’s world record ODI lowest score of 35.
Captain Jason Holder (34, 21b, 3×4, 1×6) revived the innings with a handy knock. But there was little other resistance as fast bowlers Boult and Matt Henry (2/18) along with left-arm spinner Santner took the batting apart.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, New Zealand were 83 for three after 19 overs when rain forced the players from the field. They added 48 in the four available overs after the resumption. Ross Taylor (47 n o, 54b, 6×4) and Tom Latham (37, 42b, 5×4) batted well for the Kiwis. Sheldon Cottrell (2/19) bowled well for the visitors.
After the Duckworth-Lewis revision, the target of 166 should not have been beyond the World T20 Champions, but they found themselves in trouble in the first over when Chris Gayle departed early.
Boult removed Shai Hope (two) in the second over before Henry came back to dismiss Kyle Hope and the West Indies were seven for three. Boult then bagged two wickets in his second over to put pressure on Holder to lift his side out of the mire.
Holder put on 48 with Rovman Powell (11) in a sixth-wicket rally but with their departure the innings folded quickly.
The West Indies end their tour with three T20 matches starting in Nelson, Friday.
Brief scores
New Zealand 131/4 in 23 overs (Ross Taylor 47 n o; Sheldon Cottrell 2/19) beat West Indies 99/9 in 23 overs (Jason Holder 34; Mitchell Santner 3/15, Trent Boult 3/18) by D/L method.
