A tantalizing record ninth wicket stand between Yannic Cariah and Alzarri Joseph threatened to hand West Indies an unlikely win but New Zealand held their nerves to level the three-match series with a 50-run victory under Duckworth-Lewis-Stern here late Friday night.
Asked to chase 213 for a rare series win against a top tier opponent, West Indies slumped to 27 for six in the 10th over, veteran seamers Tim Southee (4-22) and Trent Boult (3-18) shredding the top order with lethal new-ball spells.
When rain halted play for nearly an hour with West Indies on 63 for seven in the 23rd over and Akeal Hosein fell six balls following the resumption at 72 for eight with a revised target of 212 from 41 overs on the cards, the Caribbean side’s demise appeared imminent.
However, Cariah struck a sensible 52 from 84 balls in his first ever international innings while Joseph slammed a cavalier 49 from 31 balls, the pair putting on a rollicking 85 to establish a new record for the ninth wicket for West Indies in ODIs.
The left-handed Cariah notched two fours and a six and found his caution complemented by Joseph’s brawn, the number 10 transferring pressure back onto the Black Caps by belting five fours and two sixes.
With 57 runs needed from the last 41 balls, Southee returned to bowl Joseph in the 35th over before Cariah holed out on the ropes at point in the next over from left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, as the home side folded for 161 in the 36th over.
“[The early collapse] was definitely disappointing. It hurt us a lot. Losing six wickets in the power-play there, we knew we were in deep trouble,” said captain Nicholas Pooran.
“But in saying that Yannic and Alzarri Joseph, they putting on that partnership [helped us] but I think that partnership was a bit too late.
“If the top order could’ve given us one partnership I think we would’ve won the game today.”
Tom Latham, who led the side in place of the injured Kane Williamson, said New Zealand showed character at the crucial late stage of the innings.
“We always knew that West Indies would keep coming when we came back out after the rain and full credit to them for knowing what sort of power they possess all the way down,” said Latham.
“I thought our guys stuck in it nicely and it’s obviously nice to get the rewards at the end.”
Opener Finn Allen had earlier perished agonisingly short of a maiden ODI hundred with a top score of 96 as New Zealand were dismissed for 212 in the penultimate over.
Twenty-two year-old off-spinner Kevin Sinclair grabbed four for 41 in his second ODI and was supported by experienced seamer Jason Holder (3-24) and left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein, who finished with two for 51.
Similar to Wednesday’s opener, the Black Caps found the going difficult on a testing Kensington Oval pitch and were quickly 31 for three in the 10th over before Allen and Daryl Mitchell (41) rebuilt the innings in an 84-run, fourth-wicket stand.
The 23-year-old Allen faced 117 deliveries and struck seven fours and three sixes while Mitchell, 31, counted a brace of fours and sixes in his 63-ball stay.
Allen added another 35 for the fourth wicket with Michael Bracewell (6) before eventually falling with a deserved hundred within reach, playing onto seamer Holder in the 41st over.
West Indies then found themselves in early turmoil when Kyle Mayers nicked the sixth ball of the innings behind off Boult and Shamarh Brooks had his off-stump pegged back by Southee in the fourth over – both batsmen failing to score.
Brandon King (2) holed out to mid-on in the eighth over from Southee but it was Boult’s double strike in the next over that sealed West Indies’ fate, the left-armer first removing Shai Hope for 16 to a catch at point and then accounted for Pooran, bowled playing on for two.
CMC ed/22
