NZ seal 2-0 series win over WI
Agency :
Fast bowler Jacob Duffy and spinner Ajaz Patel routed West Indies (WI) as New Zealand (NZ) won the third and final test by 323 runs to complete a 2-0 series victory in Mount Maunganui on Monday.
The hosts were in the box seat since taking a first-innings lead of 155, and few expected West Indies to succeed in their pursuit of a record victory target of 462.
Duffy claimed 5-42 and Patel returned figures of 3-23 as New Zealand bundled out West Indies for 138 in the final session of the test match at Bay Oval.
Opener Brandon King made 67, but once he fell after his opening stand of 87 with John Campbell, it was a relentless procession of West Indies batsmen returning to the pavilion at Bay Oval. Campbell’s laboured 16 was the next best score in a sorry-looking West Indies scorecard.
New Zealand jumped to second place, behind Australia, in the World Test Championship (WTC) standings following their victory.
“It was a clinical performance, really,” New Zealand Captain Tom Latham said at the presentation ceremony.
“Take away maybe 20-odd overs with the ball in that first innings and I thought throughout the rest of the game, we were exactly where we wanted to be.
“And obviously being on the right side is really pleasing.”
It was a memorable match for the New Zealand captain, who followed his 137 in the first innings with 101 in the second.
His opening partner Devon Conway’s scores of 227 and 100 earned him the player-of-the-match award.
It was the first time in a test match that a team’s opening batters each hit ?centuries in both innings.
Duffy walked away with the player-of-the-series award for his tally of 23 wickets.
West Indies showed some resistance in the first innings when Kavem Hodge’s hundred powered them to a respectable 420.
“It has been a tough series. We played good in patches but not through long phases and it showed in the results,” touring Captain Roston Chase said.
“I think we need to firstly know when those ?moments are up for grabs, and then obviously, to nail those moments, to win those key moments in the game. I just think that’s something that we have to learn to do.”