Highlights
- The series stands at level with New Zealand and West Indies having one victory each
- Kane Williamson misses out on the ODI due to injury
- Kyle Mayers scored his second ODI century
WI vs NZ: Team West Indies has been in a lot of turmoil lately, time and again they have failed to convert their talent into performances. At times they have fallen short of what was asked of them to win games. The Nicholas Pooran-led West Indies side and seeking constant improvement and it feels that they are well on their path to doing it.
With the series hanging in balance as of now, with both the teams winning one match each, the home team is eyeing to clinch the series and get some winning and positive momentum before they enter into the final phase of preparations for the T20I World Cup which is scheduled to be played in Australia later this year. As a change in their tactics, the Kiwi skipper Tom Latham won the toss and decided to field first.
Shai Hope and Kyle Mayers started the proceedings for West Indies and they made the Kiwi bowlers pay for their lack of discipline with the ball. Both Mayers and Hope stitched a partnership of 173 runs for the first wicket. Hope went on to score 51 off 100 deliveries, whereas Mayers ended up scoring 105 off 110 deliveries. Skipper Nicholas Pooran walked out next and he just decimated the Kiwi bowling, Pooran scored 91 off 55 deliveries and propelled the scoring rate. To the misfortune of the hosts, other than Mayers, Pooran, and Hope, no other Caribbean batsman could cross the 20 runs mark, but they somehow crossed the 300 runs mark.
The Latham-led side has a stern challenge on its hands and it will be interesting to see how they chase this score down.
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Teams:
West Indies XI: Shai Hope(w), Kyle Mayers, Shamarh Brooks, Brandon King, Nicholas Pooran(c), Keacy Carty, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Yannic Cariah, Alzarri Joseph, Kevin Sinclair
New Zealand Playing XI: Martin Guptill, Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Tom Latham(w/c), Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
