New Zealand were back to their best at St.Kitts as they beat West Indies by 88 runs in the 3rd ODI and keep the series alive. Nathan McCullum was the star of the match for New Zealand as he struck a half century during a crisis situation and then came back and took 2/40. Rob Nicol was adjudged the Man of the Match for his knock of 59 in 69 balls, which included 4 fours and 3 sixes. Even after this loss, West Indies lead the series 2-1 with 2 games left to be played.
West Indies hard earlier won the toss and elected to bowl first on a small ground. New Zealand once again got off to a poor start as Guptill was dismissed on just 11 with the score reading 24. Flynn and Nicol then took advantage of the powerplay and started hitting few boundaries. Flynn was looking good on 28 when Bravo got the better of him. In the meantime, Rob Nicol reached his half century. New Zealand then lost a few quick wickets to slump from 97/2 to 125/5.
Nathan McCullum then joined the in-form BJ Watling in the middle. The two were very slow in the first 30 minutes or so in their partnership. But they took the batting powerplay just at the right time and gathered 36 runs in that period of 5 overs. The two of them shared a crucial 66 run partnership for the 6th wicket. Watling missed out on his 3rd consecutive 50 as he was out for 40. But McCullum carried on at the other end to reach his half century. Couple of lusty blows by Tim Southee in the end helped New Zealand finish on 249/9 in their 50 overs. Andre Russell took 4/57 in 9 overs.
The target of 250 was not going to be that difficult with the kind of batting order West Indies had. Johnson Charles was playing his first match of the series, but cold manage only 15. Tim Southee took the wicket of the match when he got rid of Chris Gayle for just 11. Smith, Bravo and Samuels were dismissed in quick successions as West Indies were reduced to 62/5 in the 15th over and were looking in all sorts of trouble.
Pollard and Ramdin tried to provide some stability to the innings and played out a few dot balls in the process. But both of them were shown the way to the pavilion in their teens. The West Indies score was reading 103/8 in the 28th over and there was too much to do for Russell. Russell tried his best and clobbed 4 mammoth sixes in his innings of 42 not out in 24 balls. West Indies were finally bowled out for 161 in the 35th over, losing the match by 88 runs.
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NEW
ZEALAND
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249/9
(50)
|
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Nicol-59 (69)
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Russell-4/57
|
|
N. McCullum-50 (70)
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Narine-2/28
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Watling-40 (47)
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Sammy-1/22
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Flynn-28 (31)
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Samuels-1/28
|
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WEST
INDIES
|
161
(34.3)
|
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Russell-42* (24)
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Oram-2/22
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D.R. Smith-19 (28)
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N. McCullum-2/40
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Pollard-16 (30)
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Boult-2/45
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Charles-15 (14)
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Southee-1/14
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New Zealand Win By 88 Runs
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