BASSETERRE, St Kitts, CMC – Talismanic opener Chris Gayle failed for the first time in five innings, triggering a miserable West Indies batting slide that culminated in a disappointing 88-run loss in the third One-Day International, as New Zealand clawed their way back into the series with a gutsy performance here yesterday.
Chasing a moderate 250 for victory and a series-clinching 3-0 lead in the five-match series, West Indies proved a shadow of the side that dominated previous matches and crumbled for 161 all out off 34.3 overs, their lowest ever ODI total at Warner Park.
Gayle, with three half-centuries and a century in his last four innings on tour, could only manage 11 this time around and it was left to fellow Jamaican Andre Russell to blast an unbeaten 42 at the end, to be the only batsman to pass 20.
Pacer Jacob Oram (2-22), off-spinner Nathan McCullum (2-40) and left-arm seamer Trent Boult (2-45) all finished with two wickets apiece.
The victory halted the Windies’ four-match winning streak put the series back in play, after it appeared over after New Zealand lost the first two matches at Sabina Park in Jamaica last week.
Earlier, Russell snared four for 57 with his right-arm pace – his second four-wicket haul of the series – to help limit the tourists to 249 for nine after they were sent in.
Opener Rob Nicol top-scored with 59 and Nathan McCullum got an even fifty, while in-form BJ Watling scored a busy 40 but New Zealand squandered a strong position of 123 for three in the 26th over.
Off-spinner Sunil Narine also proved a thorn in their side with two for 28 from his 10 overs.
West Indies looked set to continue their domination when opener Johnson Charles twice found the boundary with rasping drives.
He had reached 15 when he missed a flow full toss from Boult – in his first game of the series – and was lbw at 19 for one in the fourth over.
West Indies were then stunned when champion batsman Gayle departed cheaply at 32 for two in the ninth over, caught at first slip pushing tentatively at one angled across him by Southee.
Dwayne Smith tried to hit West Indies out of trouble, counting two fours and a six in 19 but went for one too many big strokes and skied a catch to McCullum running back at cover.
Two runs and four balls later in the next over at 52 for four, West Indies found themselves in disarray when Dwayne Bravo was tragically run out for two attempting a suicidal third run in the 13th over.
He stroked seamer Kyle Mills to deep mid-wicket and was well short of his ground at the bowler’s end as he took on Southee’s strong arm.
A combination of slackness and brilliance then accounted for stroke-maker Marlon Samuels for 11, also via the run out route.
The right-hander stroked Mills to short cover where Martin Guptill fielded brilliantly and threw down the wicket in one motion, with the batsman failing to make his ground after advancing too far down the wicket.
McCullum prised out both Kieron Pollard (16) and captain Darren Sammy (7) as West Indies tumbled to 95 for seven in the 27th over, and Denesh Ramdin’s 40-ball dither over 14 ended when he was trapped plumb in front to Oram.
Russell then chanced his arm, belting three fours and four sixes off just 24 balls, raising already slim hopes of a dramatic victory.
Dropped on 17 by Guptill off McCullum at 116 for seven in the 29th over, he added 30 with Narine who was run out for 10 in a bad mix up, and a further 28 for the final wicket with Ravi Rampaul who was last out for nine, taken in the deep off an ill-advised swipe.
Man-of-the-Match Nicol had earlier controlled the early part of the Black Caps innings in a knock that lasted 69 balls and comprised four fours and three sixes.
After Guptill fell early for 11, he put on 47 for the second wicket with Daniel Flynn (28) before New Zealand lost three wickets for 28 runs to stutter to 125 for five in the 27th.
McCullum and Watling rescued the Kiwis with a fighting 66-run, sixth wicket stand which put their side in sight of the 200-run mark.
While McCullum faced 70 balls and hit four fours and a six, Watling’s innings lasted 47 balls and also included a similar boundary count.
Russell accounted for both – Watling scooping to Narine at short fine-leg in the 41st over and McCullum caught in the deep by Bravo off the first ball of the final over.
Scoreboard
NEW ZEALAND
R Nicol c & b Samuels 59
M Guptill lbw b Russell 11
D Flynn c wkp Ramdin b Bravo 28
*K Williamson b Narine 9
T Latham c Gayle b Sammy 12
+B Watling c Narine b Russell 40
N McCullum c Bravo b Russell 50
J Oram st Ramdin b Narine 7
K Mills c Gayle b Russell 2
T Southee not out 17
T Boult not out 1
Extras (lb6, w5, nb2) 13
TOTAL (9 wickets; 50 overs) 249
Fall of wickets: 1-24 (Guptill, 5.1 overs), 2-71 (Flynn, 13.3), 3-97 (Williamson, 18.3), 4-124 (Latham, 25.1), 5-125 (Nicol, 26.1), 6-191 (Watling, 40.3), 7-216 (Oram, 44.3), 8-219 (Mills, 45.4), 9-239 (McCullum, 49.1)
Bowling: 10-0-61-1 (w1), Russell 9-0-57-4 (w1), Bravo 7-0-47-1 (w2, nb2), Narine 10-0-28-2 (w1), Sammy 8-1-22-1, Samuels 6-0-28-1.
WEST INDIES
J Charles lbw b Boult 15
C Gayle c Nicol b Southee 11
D Smith c McCullum b Oram 19
M Samuels run out 11
D Bravo run out 2
K Pollard c sub (D Brownlie) b McCullum 16
+D Ramdin lbw b Oram 14
*D Sammy c & b McCullum 7
A Russell not out 42
S Narine run out 10
R Rampaul c Southee b Boult 9
Extras ((lb3, w1, nb1) 5
TOTAL (all out; 34.3 overs) 161
Fall of wickets: 1-19 (Charles, 3.2 overs), 2-33 (Gayle, 8.4), 3-50 (Smith, 11.4), 4-52 (Bravo, 12.2), 5-62 (Samuels, 14.4), 6-85 (Pollard, 22.5), 7-95 (Sammy, 26.1), 8-103 (Ramdin, 27.3), 9-133 (Narine, 30.5), 10-161 (Rampaul, 34.3)
Bowling: Mills 7-2-37-0, Boult 8.3-0-45-2 (nb1), Southee 6-1-14-1 (w1), Oram 7-1-22-2, McCullum 6-0-40-2.
Result: New Zealand won by 88 runs.
Series: West Indies lead five-match series 2-1.
Man-of-the-Match: Rob Nicol.
Toss: West Indies.
Umpires: Richard Kettleborough, Joel Wilson; TV – Richard Illingworth.
