HAMILTON, New Zealand, CMC – New Zealand beat West Indies by eight wickets in the third and final test in Hamilton yesterday, to claim the three-match series two-nil.
The win was also the hosts’ first since 2006 against the same opponents.
Resuming on the fourth day at six without loss, New Zealand cruised to their target of 122 with eight wickets in hand.
Despite the loss of Peter Fulton (10) during the morning session and Kane Williamson (56) on the verge of victory, the home team crawled to an historic series win.
Hamish Rutherford, who shared in an 83-run second-wicket partnership with Williamson, finished the match unbeaten on 48, hitting a boundary to confirm the result, alongside Man of the Match Ross Taylor (2).
Darren Sammy and Veerasammy Permaul took the two wickets to fall in New Zealand’s second innings.
West Indies posted a competitive first innings knock of 367 following centuries from Shivnarine Chanderpaul (122*) and Denesh Ramdin (107) and then Sunil Narine’s spell of six wickets for 91 runs restricted New Zealand to 349 to give the visitors the advantage despite another century from Taylor (131).
But a second innings batting collapse by the West Indies threw the match in New Zealand’s favour and set up an easy victory target.
“Congratulations to Brendon (McCullum) and his team,” said Sammy, the West Indies captain. “I think once again we have had to learn a lesson at Test cricket. They played really well and batted and bowled better than us. We lost the series but there is a lot to learn, but we didn’t show the required mental steel and toughness. It’s the same story all over again.”
“Bravo’s (Darren) double-hundred, Chanderpaul and Ramdin’s hundreds are good, but we just haven’t been consistent enough in Test cricket over a five-day period,” he said.
Sammy is optimistic that his team will bounce back in the shorter form of the game when they begin the one-day and twenty20 series from next week.
“The different format we can hopefully show a better side of us. We will have new players to bring in some new energy and hopefully bring the New Zealand public some entertainment over Christmas.”
The first test in Dunedin was drawn and New Zealand won the second in Wellington by an innings and 73 runs.
The five-game One Day International (ODI) series starts at Eden Park on Boxing Day (Christmas Day Caribbean Time).
Summarised Scores:
West Indies 367 (Shivnarine Chanderpaul 122 not out, Denesh Ramdin 107; Tim Southee 4-79, Corey Anderson 3-47) and 103 (Trent Boult 4-23, Southee 3-12) and New Zealand 349 (Ross Taylor 131; Sunil Narine 6-91, Darren Sammy 2-69) and 124-2 (Kane Williamson 56, Hamish Rutherford 48*; Sammy 1-21)