* Rutherford’s 68 not not deciding factor (Match 26)
By Dwayne Ferreira
The West Indies enjoyed a spectacular comeback over New Zealand, fighting back after a horrible start with the bat to win by 13 runs.
Sherfane Rutherford smashed an impressive 68 runs in the closing stages of the first innings to take down the fiery Kiwis bowlers, giving the West Indies a fighting chance.
The home side then played cleverly to outsmart the Black Caps, forcing errors and wickets by taking a page right out of their own playbook. By the time New Zealand had realised what was going on, it was too late and they missed out on two crucial points.
In the beginning, it wasn’t looking at all like the home side’s day. Not only did they lose the toss and were sent into bat first, they suffered tremendously against the new ball and then in the middle phases.
The West Indies lost 7 wickets inside the opening 13 overs, with only 76 runs recorded on the board.
Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson were having a field day with the opposition, all by simply sticking to hard lengths. The trio dismantled the hosts and made it troublesome for the powerhouse Windies batters to ever get settled in.
However, Sherfane Rutherford was able to stay calm and composed during his stay at the wicket and scripted a mighty comeback for his side by scoring an unbeaten 68.
Although witnessing his teammates crumble at the opposite end, slumping to 112 for 9 in 18th over, Rutherford thundered an impressive 37 runs in the final two overs all by himself. He single handedly took the West Indies total to 149 for 9 at the end of the first innings, a total that surprisingly proved to be too much for the Kiwi’s to handle.
Having noticed very early in the innings that by hitting hard lengths, batters struggled at the crease, skipper Rovman Powell ordered his bowlers to replicate what the Kiwi’s did to them. Their strategy and tactical prowess worked like charm, dismissing the entire New Zealand top order one after the other.
This also made life tough for the incoming middle and lower order to cope with the building pressure, ultimately failing to keep up with the run rate although having balls to utilize.
Akeal Hossein picked up the wicket of Devon Conway first early in the chase, but it was the brilliance of Alzarri Joseph and then Gudakesh Motie who really stood out.
Joseph scalped four wickets in his spell while Motie snatched 3 with his spin. The pair’s efforts helped restrict New Zealand to just 136 for 9 wickets at the end of the final twenty, securing a third consecutive victory and a place in the coveted Super 8.
Chief Scores :-
West Indies – 149 for 9 in 20 overs (Sherfane Rutherford 68*, Nicholas Pooran 17, Akeal Hosein 15, Trent Boult 3 for 16, Tim Southee 2 for 21)
New Zealand – 136 for 9 in 20 overs (Glenn Phillips 40, Finn Allen 26, Mitchell Santner 21*, Alzarri Joseph 4 for 19, Gudakesh Motie 3 for 25)
Player of the Match – Sherfan Rutherford (68*)
