NZ vs WI, 1st T20I, Review: Another perfect outing for the hosts as Windies continue to struggle

New Zealand defeated the World Champions Windies by 47 runs in the first of the three-match T20 series at Saxton Oval in Nelson. The visitors continue to struggle on the tour as they are still winless after playing six matches across formats. They have not even competed to an extent thereby making it easy for the Kiwis who have steamrolled them quite easily. However, the home side endured a perfect outing on the day as they ticked all the boxes and took a 1-0 lead in the series.

Windies skipper Carlos Brathwaite won the toss and put their opponents in to bat first in search of their first victory in the country. Both the teams went into the game depleted as the visitors were without some of their star players in the format and New Zealand opting to rest key players with a rotation policy. They also handed over a debut Seth Rance and Anaru Kitchen which eventually worked well for them. The openers Colin Munro and the fit-again Martin Guptill strode out to give good start to their side

Munro and Phillips propel Kiwis to a big score

Jerome Taylor struck in the second over of the game as he pinned Guptill in front but the duo of Munro and the T20 specialist Glenn Phillips counter attacked smartly. They added 86 for the second wicket in just 10 overs with the spinners taking the control of the game. Ashley Nurse snaffled a big fish Munro not before he made 53 off 37 deliveries. Even his partner Phillips smashed a half-century and was castled by Samuels Badree on 55 facing just 40 balls. Nurse and Badree put a stranglehold on the batsmen and helped them make a come back into the game.

The wickets kept falling at regular intervals and Windies seemed to be restricting New Zealand to a decent total. But Mitchell Santner whacked Kesrick Williams for 25 runs in the final over of the innings and propelled team’s score to 187/7. Badree bowled well for the visitors and conceded only 22 runs picking a solitary wicket. Brathwaite and Taylor scalped two wickets but were expensive as Nurse continued to impress on the tour with his wily off-spin bowling.

The derailed chase

The upbeat Windies opened with the Universe Boss Chris Gayle and Chadwick Walton but lost both of them as the debutant Rance picked both of them off successive deliveries. They never recovered from the early blows despite a brief stand between Shai Hope and Andre Fletcher who never got going. The pressure got to them and once again lost wickets in clump collapsing from 61/2 to 67/5. Eventually, Windies were bowled out for 140 well short of the stiff target posted by the hosts.

The bowlers had a fruitful outing for the Kiwis as Rance and the skipper Tim Southee shared six wickets between them. The spin-bowling duo of Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi also bowled tidily to suck any momentum out of Windies innings. Glenn Phillips was named the Man of the Match for his half-century with the bat and four dismissals behind the wickets, one of them being an excellent catch to send back the dangerous Gayle.

Brathwaite and Co. would want to sort things out soon now in a day’s time and make a come back to keep the series alive. Things are looking bleak though as Kane Williamson would return to the action which will only make it tough for the visitors.

Brief Scores:

New Zealand 187/7 after 20 overs (G Phillips 55, C Munro 53; C Brathwaite 2/38, J Taylor 2/41)

Windies 140/10 after 19 overs (A Fletcher 27; S Rance 3/30, T Southee 3/36)

Result: New Zealand won by 47 runs

Man of the Match: Glenn Phillips

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