West Indies defeat New Zealand by 39 runs in 2nd T20I at Roseau; level the series 1-1

Sheldon Cottrell bowled well for the West Indies camp.

By Bharath Ramaraj

Jul 7, 2014

West Indies won the second match of the short Twenty20 International (T20I) series against New Zealand by 39 runs at Roseau to level the series 1-1. While chasing a target of 165 runs, New Zealand were very much in the hunt with the score reading 82 for 2. Ross Taylor and captain, Kane Williamson were batting well, but once they got out they lost their way and never recovered. For the West Indies, Sheldon Cottrell   took three wickets and spin king, Sunil Narine chipped in with two.

Earlier, West Indies managed to score 165 for the loss of six wickets against New Zealand in the T20I played at Roseau. Andre Fletcher yet again proved to be the best batsman for the West Indies as he amassed a fifty. He was well supported by the likes of Lendl Simmons and some late order hitting by the lower order batsmen. West Indies’ batsman accumulated 56 runs during the last five overs of the innings.

For New Zealand, Trent Boult was the star performer as he didn’t just take two wickets but also took a superb catch as a boundary rider to dismiss Kieron Pollard. Even Corey Anderson took a fine catch for New Zealand. Tim Southee and other bowlers bowled reasonably well for New Zealand. It has to be said that the deck is flat and New Zealand will fancy their chances of chasing down the target.

New Zealand, surprisingly chose Kane Williamson as skipper over Brendon McCullum. It is believed that New Zealand want to look at future and that is why Williamson was appointed as the captain. A golden opportunity for him to show his wares as captain.

New Zealand have already won the first match of the series held at the same ground via Duckworth Lewis Method. This is a golden opportunity for New Zealand to win the T20I series as well as the Test series to complete a fine tour. Hosts though, would look to spoil the party by bowling out New Zealand for a score of less than 165.

Brief scores:

West Indies 165 for 6 in 20 overs (Lendl Simmons 36, Andre Fletcher 62; Trent Boult  2 for 22) beat New Zealand 126 in 19.1 overs (Kane Williamson 37; Sheldon Cottrell 3 for 28, Sunil Narine 2 for 19) by 39 runs.

Man of the Match: Andre Fletcher

Man of the Series: Andre Fletcher

Full Scorecard

(Bharath Ramaraj, an MBA in marketing, eats, drinks and sleeps cricket. He has played at school and college-level, and now channelises his passion for the game by writing about it)