Holder points to Windies batting failure
West Indies captain Jason Holder bemoaned another batting let-down as the regional side suffered a 66-runs loss in the rain-affected third one-day international (ODI) to sweep the series yesterday.
Mitchell Santner and Trent Boult shared six wickets as the host, New Zealand, again made light work of the Windies challenge.
New Zealand made 131-4, batting first after winning the toss in a match reduced to 23 overs per side. The West Indies slumped to 9-5 — flirting with the lowest-ever score in an ODI — before finishing on 99-9 as it chased a target adjusted to 166 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis system.
Santner took 315 from five overs and Boult had 318 as the West Indies run chase crumbled.
Jason Holder made 34 from 21 balls and put on 48 in a sixth-wicket partnership with Rovman Powell (11) to carry the West Indies past Zimbabwe’s recordlow score of 35 then past the West Indies’ own low mark of 54.
Nikita Miller made 20 and Shannon Gabriel 12 in an unbroken 26-run partnership for the last wicket.
“We started well with the ball, and, I think, went really well in the field,” Holder said. “It’s just unfortunate we lost wickets up front again, and we were
not able to build momentum.”
CRITICAL DIFFERENCE
Ross Taylor’s unbeaten innings of 47 from 54 balls made the critical difference between the teams after New Zealand slumped to 26-3. New Zealand reached 83-3 from 19 overs when rain first drenched the match at Hagley Oval. Taylor, 32 not out when the rain began, went on to topscore with 47, and Latham made 37 from 42 balls with Taylor in a partnership of 73 for New Zealand’s fourth wicket. Henry Nicholls added 18 not out from nine balls as New Zealand posted a competitive total in difficult circumstances. New Zealand won the first match by five wickets and the second match by 204 runs. The hosts also swept the Test series 2-0.