NZ v WI, 3rd T20I, Review: Windies remain winless on the tour as New Zealand complete yet another clean sweep

New Zealand defeated Windies by a mammoth 119 runs in the third and final T20 International match of the series at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. Colin Munro continued his rich vein of form and blazed his way to the record third T20I century. Windies haplessly couldn’t register even a solitary win on the tour across formats and were left wanting even in this game as well. However, the home side put in a complete performance much to the joy of their supporters and snatched a huge victory.

Kane Williamson won the toss and opted to bat first in what was a must-win game for the visitors to level the series before leaving the country. Their nemesis during the ODIs and Tests, Trent Boult, returned to the side after being rested for the first couple of games. Seth Rance made way for him who impressed in his debut series. Windies, on the other hand, brought back Shimron Hetmyer and Jerome Taylor also including Rayad Emrit to the playing eleven.

Openers smash the bowlers

The opening duo of Martin Guptill and Colin Munro started to smash the bowlers who looked out of ideas. The batsmen summoned them into the submission for dishing out easy deliveries to hit. The latter in particular was severe in his assault as his partner got into the groove slowly. Both added 136 for the first wicket in 11.3 overs before Guptill edged a pitched-up delivery to the wicket-keeper off Rayad Emrit. He made 63 off just 38 balls with 5 fours and a couple of sixes. Munro though was unperturbed with the event continued to slam the opposition.

He literally annihilated them and notched up his record third century in the shortest format of the game. He scored 104 off just 53 deliveries before being sent back to the dugout and had smashed 10 gigantic sixes during his stay in the middle. But the good work done by the openers was continued by Williamson and Tom Bruce as they too joined the party with a brief blitz. Eventually, the Kiwis posted a whopping 243 runs for the loss of five wickets in their stipulated 20 overs.

None of the Windies bowlers was spared as every one of them conceded over 10 runs per over. The skipper Carlos Brathwaite though managed to scalp a couple but not before leaking 50 runs.

Chase derailed in the first over itself

The team from Caribbean nation required the Universe Boss Chris Gayle to fire at any cost in order to gun down the total of 243. However, their hopes were dashed severely when Tim Southee dismissed both the openers, Gayle and Chadwick Walton, in the very first over. The procession continued even as Andre Fletcher kept on finding the boundaries as Windies reached 73 in the powerplay but lost four wickets in the process. The spinners took control for the hosts then and wickets again tumbled.

Fletcher, the last ray of hope, was snaffled by Ish Sodhi as the other batters lost their wickets looking for big shots. Brathwaite and Co. were folded for only 124 runs just over the half-way mark of their target and lost the series 3-0. For the home side, the bowlers had a wonderful time with Southee picking 3/21 and fittingly finishing the proceedings. Boult was at his best again with a couple of wickets and Sodhi as well playing a crucial role in the defence of a tall chase.

Colin Munro was named Man of the Match and Man of the Series for his exploits in all the three games with the bat. Windies will leave the country without winning a solitary game on the tour after arriving with a lot of hope of fighting their way to the victories much like they did in England. But what followed was a sorry display from them and would want to forget it as soon as possible.

Brief Scores

New Zealand 243/5 after 20 overs (C Munro 104, M Guptill 63; C Brathwaite 2/50)

Windies 124/10 after 16.3 overs (A Fletcher 46; T Southee 3/21, T Boult 2/29, I Sodhi 2/25)

Man of the Match: Colin Munro

Man of the Series: Colin Munro