NZ vs WI: Mitchell Santner leads New Zealand to T20I series win by 3-1 against West Indies

The West Indies were defeated by New Zealand as the Kiwis clinched the series by 3-1. At the forefront was Jacob Duffy who delivered an outstanding spell of 4 wickets by giving away just 35 runs. Duffy ripped apart Caribbean’s batting order and breathed fire on field. He is now the third fastest New Zealand bowler to reach 50 T20I wickets following which the Blackcaps clinched an eight-wicket win in the T20I series.

Batting first in the 5th T20I, West Indies were bowled out at mere 140 runs after they got off to a disastrous start where they lost four wickets in just 11 balls in the powerplay. The greenish pitch with enough bounce, along with overcast conditions made things really miserable for their attacking batting lineup. Duffy made the most of it, removing three in his second over: Shai Hope top-edging a pull, the excellent Ackeem Auguste bowled by a late inswinger, and Sherfane Rutherford caught behind trying to attack.

Shai Hope’s dismissal brought Duffy into an elite company as he reached 50 wickets from just his 38th T20I match, faster than anyone except Trent Boult (36) and Lockie Ferguson (37). His strike rate of 13.8 is now the amongst the top New Zealand bowlers, with at least 20 T20I wickets while his average is 17.05 – second best.

In the previous game, Rovman Powell almost came close towards a comeback but in this match he couldn’t help his team cross the finish line and was dismissed in the seventh over. Roston Chase and Jason Holder tried to stabilise the innings with a 42-run partnership but they fell in quick succession to leave the visitors reeling at 94/8 in the 14th over.

New Zealand on the other hand were easily able to chase the target with Tim Robinson smashing 45 runs off 24 balls. Devon Conway also anchored the innings and reached the milestone of 1000 T20I runs at home and finished the match with 26 balls to spare.