Kingston: In the series against India, Thombia continues the West Indies cricket team’s shanidasha. Windies lost the second Twenty20 against New Zealand by 90 runs. The Kiwis, who won the first match, won the series 2-0 with one match remaining.
After winning the toss and electing to bat, New Zealand posted a huge score of 215 for five wickets. Martin Guptill (20 off 11 balls) and Devon Conway (42 off 34 balls) started the Kiwis’ score of 200 as the middle-order batsmen maintained a scoring average of over 10 runs an over.
Kane Williamson, who came out third, dropped the bat with four runs in two balls. Top scorers Glenn Phillips and Daryl Mitchell batted in the fourth place. Phillips’ performance of 76 runs including six fours and four sixes in 41 balls made him the man of the match. Darryl Mitchell was dismissed for 48 runs with four sixes and two fours. James Neesham (nine) and Michael Bracewell (four) remained unbeaten.
Despite conceding 40 runs in four overs, pacer Obed McCoy shone among the Windies bowlers with three wickets. Romario Sheppard and Odin Smith took a wicket each.
Batting towards a huge target, the West Indies did not raise any hope of victory at any point. The first four batters, Kyle Meyers, Shamra Brooks, Nicholas Pooran and Devon Thomas, entered the tent with four, seven, one and one runs respectively.
Shimron Hetmyer (14), Jason Holder (11), Romario Sheppard (18) and Odin Smith have come and gone together. Despite Rovman Powell’s contribution of 21 runs, the hosts fell to 87 runs for nine wickets. Obed McCoy’s (23 off 15 balls) and Hayden Walsh’s (10 off eight balls) last wicket partnership of 38 runs saved the team from shying away from a hundred.
Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell took three wickets each for New Zealand. Tim Southee and Ish Sodhi got a victim each.
| Shanidasha for Windies Mangalam
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