New Zealand vs Windies 3rd T20I: 5 Talking Points

New Zealand have secured a resounding and dominant victory over the Windies by 119 runs in the final T20 international of the series. The hosts have now clean swept the visitors in a commendable and powerful manner across the three formats of the game. On the other hand, the visitors have looked highly incompetent and have lacked the intensity to battle out in this contest.

In the final match, explosive opener Colin Munro inspired his team with some great striking and along with his opening companion, Martin Guptill ripped the Windies bowling attack apart. They laid the strong foundation and as a result, the Kiwis were able to set up a huge first innings total of 243 runs. In reply, the Windies batters once again failed to even get going and crumbled under the scoreboard pressure. Here are five talking points from the final T20I match:

1. Martin Guptill returns back in form

Kiwi opener Martin Guptill got back in form with a blistering knock of 63 runs off just 38 balls, striking at a lush rate of more than 160. The big-hitting opener’s form with consistent dip in performance in the recent games was a major worry for the Kiwis coming into this game. He was in his zone right from the start and made the Windies bowlers pay as they failed to challenge him.

2. Colin Munro records his third T20I hundred

Guptill’s opening partner Colin Munro became the first batsman to score three international hundreds in the history of the shortest format of the game. Munro played an aggressive and breathtaking inning of 104 runs and scored his runs at a strike rate of nearly 200. From the start, he was in the mood to score big. The southpaw has been the most consistent and impactful batsman for the hosts in the limited-overs series.

3. Chris Gayle fails yet again

A lot was expected from the veteran Chris Gayle who was back in the national colours after a while. He had quite a run in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) ahead of the series and that suggested he would relish the opportunity to bat on the smaller grounds of New Zealand. But he absolutely struggled in this series and was dismissed for a duck off a short delivery from Tim Southee in the opening over of the chase today.

4. Andre Fletcher the lone warrior for Windies

During the chase, Windies lost the two openers in the very first over, dropping additional weight on the shoulders of the middle order. Andre Fletcher was the only batsman who played his shots and was positive throughout his stay of 32 balls. He was the top scorer for Windies with his knock of 46. The rest of the batsmen failed to give him any support and that eventually proved to be the reason for their defeat.

5. Tim Southee and Trent Boult share five wickets

Kiwi fast bowler Tim Southee dented the visitors booking the return ticket for both their openers right in the first over of the inning. His partner Trent Boult who returned to the side for the final game of the series, also joined the party and picked up two wickets in the middle overs to make matters worse for the Caribbean team. Southee bagged the final wicket as well to conclude the match and the series.