Twitter Reactions: New Zealand upset West Indies in series decider to record historic ODI series triumph

Kyle Mayers' ODI ton in vain as New Zealand batters seal the deal in the series decider.

By Vaishnavi Thiagarajan Iyer

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West Indies vs New Zealand
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West Indies vs New Zealand. (Photo by Randy Brooks / AFP) (Photo by RANDY BROOKS/AFP via Getty Images)

Team New Zealand scripted history as they defeated West Indies in the third and final ODI of the three-match series and marked their first ever series win on Caribbean soil. The hosts won the first game to take an early lead in the series, but the visitors bounced back stronger and registered two back-to-back wins to win the series 2-1 at the Kensington Oval in Barbados.

Winning the toss in the decider, New Zealand put the hosts to bat first. The West Indies openers struggled to get off to a good start as Tim Southee and Trent Boult, with their brilliant line and length, kept the ball moving. West Indies openers Shai Hope and Kyle Mayers played very sensibly and held their wicket on the ground but could manage to score just 24 runs in the first powerplay, that is, the first 10 overs.

They picked up pace when Lockie Ferguson, Michael Bracewell, and James Neesham started with their respective spells. Boundaries started flowing in as Hope and Mayers kept the scoreboard ticking. The game became even more exciting as the Kiwi bowlers then struggled to pick wickets, and the Windies openers went on to share a 173-run opening partnership, with Mayers doing the major firework.

Boult struck in the 35th over to dismiss Shai Hope after his 100-ball 51-run knock, and Ferguson struck in the very next over to dismiss the destructive Mayers, who had claimed his second ODI hundred in the previous over. West Indies could not channel the momentum that Mayers had left behind, and as a result, Brandon King and Shamarh Brooks walked back to the pavilion, courtesy of Mitchell Santner.

While Keacy Karty struggled to score, skipper Nicholas Pooran went berserk and punished literally every Kiwi bowler that he faced and neared a magnificent ODI ton before losing his wicket to Boult in the 49th over. Thus, he fell short of nine runs to get his century, but his knock surely put the visitors in trouble. Thanks to Alzarri Joseph’s power-hitting in the final stages, West Indies posted a target of 302 runs for the visitors to chase.

New Zealand’s powerplay was far better than their opponent’s as having lost just one early wicket that of Finn Allen, the top-order batters managed to amass 61 runs in the first 10 overs. Martin Guptill fell prey to Joseph and lost his wicket after scoring a well-composed half-century.  Devon Conway’s time on the field came to an end when Yannic Cariah worked his magic with the ball.

It was the fourth-wicket stand between Daryl Mitchell and Tom Latham that anchored New Zealand’s innings as the duo added 120 runs on board, completing their respective half-centuries before the former lost his wicket to Cariah and Latham walked back soon after. Neesham walked into the game with great confidence and displayed his skills with the bat from the word go.

He aimed only towards the fences and kept rotating the strike with Bracewell regularly. In the 11 deliveries that Neesham faced, he managed to score 34 runs off it, which included one four and four massive sixes. His unbeaten knock helped New Zealand finish off an early chase, and his humongous six to get the winning runs helped his side win the game with 17 balls to spare as the visitors finished off with 307/5 while chasing 302.

Here’s how Twitter reacted to New Zealand’s triumph: 

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New ZealandWest IndiesKyle MayersNicholas PooranJames Neesham