Hamilton, New Zealand: Kane Williamson made 56 and Hamish Rutherford 48 not out as New Zealand beat the West Indies by eight wickets in the third cricket test to win the three-test series 2-0.
Williamson was out six runs from the end and Rutherford, who carried his bat throughout the New Zealand second innings, hit the winning runs, taking New Zealand to 124-2, in the 41st over of the day.
New Zealand had resumed Sunday at 6-0, chasing 122 for victory after bowling out the West Indies for 103 in the last session on the third day. The tourists had led by 18 runs on the first innings, dismissing New Zealand for 349 in reply to their 367.
New Zealand won the second test at Wellington by an innings and 83 runs after the first test at Dunedin was drawn.
The win at the Basin Reserve was New Zealand's first in 11 tests under the captaincy of Brendon McCullum and their series victory was their first in eight years over any nation other than Bangladesh.
"I thought it was an outstanding test match and it's been an outstanding series," McCullum said. "We were led with the bat by Ross Taylor and he showed why he's a world class player.
"He'll go down as one of our greats and he's been backed up by our bowling group which has been outstanding in this series. I think some of the fast bowling we've seen, from Trent Boult and Tim Southee in particular, has been outstanding this summer.
"We've had a pretty tough time of late. I think we've played some good cricket at home and haven't always got the results. But I think we've been putting in some pretty consistent performances at home and to put some results on that is obviously very nice."
With more than a day to spare, New Zealand avoided the frustration of the first test when rain left them stranded 33 runs from victory. Set 112 to win that match, they moved too slowly, taking 30 overs to reach 79-4 before rain washed out the last session on the final day.
Their progress towards victory on Sunday was still watchful and at times laborious. They advanced their score from 6-0 to 89-1 in the 30 overs before lunch, going to the break still needing 33 runs to win.
But Williamson and Rutherford, whose partnership was then worth 56, were in command of the run chase. The only New Zealand batsman to be dismissed in the morning, Peter Fulton (10), was caught and bowled by West Indies captain Darren Sammy in the 13th over when New Zealand was 33-1.
Williamson and Rutherford played out six maidens in the next seven overs but stepped up the run rate as lunch approached. Rutherford eventually led New Zealand to their victory target in 40.4 overs and 164 minutes.
"I think once again we've been taught a lesson at test cricket," Sammy said. "New Zealand played very well, they batted and bowled way better than us and hence it's 2-0 and we've lost another test series.
"We have a lot to learn. I don't think we displayed the ability and mental toughness out there to play test cricket and it's the same story all over again."
Ross Taylor was named Man of the Match for his 131 in New Zealand's first innings -- his third century in consecutive matches. Taylor made 217 not out and 16 in the first test and 129 in the second, becoming the first New Zealander in more than 40 years to score centuries in three-straight tests.
He lifted his tally of test centuries to 11 and scored 493 runs in the series while being dismissed only twice.
"I guess my mindset is the biggest thing I've tried to work on," Taylor said. "It's tough to play test cricket when the first thing going through your mind is hit every ball for four.
"I've worked on that and it was a very pleasing series for me but to win the series is probably them main thing."
