Raval destroys Windies

Not certain if Jeet Raval is a big fan of bombastic 1980s pop anthems.

But he did perform a cracking rendition of Don’t You Forget About Me in Whangarei on Saturday.

The Black Caps opener made a match-winning 169 as a virtual no-name New Zealand XI stunned the West Indies in a ‘‘warm-up’’ one-day match by six wickets.

The West Indies, after their comprehensive 2-0 test series loss against the Black Caps, were looking to build a little confidence ahead of the ODI series against NZ starting at the same venue on Wednesday.

Instead, a bunch of relative rejects handed what is basically a new-look squad a shock defeat.

Raval, like the rest of the selection side, isn’t wanted by his domestic association for the Super Smash Twenty20 competition.

His big ton was a stellar example of pacing a chase perfectly, coming from 150 balls and included 17 fours and a six.

He was out with only eight runs required for victory.

Bharat Popli, who has struggled to buy a run since being named domestic player of the year in the 2015-16 season, was the perfect foil with 62 off 61 balls as they added 149 for the third wicket.

Earlier, brothers Kyle and Shai Hope produced a secondwicket stand worth 138 that set up the West Indies total of 288-9 in 48.4 overs.

West Indies superstar Chris Gayle sat out the encounter.

West Indies 288-9 (K Hope 94 retired out, S Hope 69; A Parikh 4-47) lost to New Zealand XI 289-4 (J Raval 169, B Popli 62) by six wickets.