West Indies v New Zealand, 4th ODI, Basseterre, St Kitts

Windies take series despite Taylor ton

The Report by Abhishek Purohit  – July 14, 2012

West Indies 264 (Pollard 56, Samuels 46, Oram 3-42, Southee 3-53) beat New Zealand 240 (Taylor 110, Best 4-46) by 24 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

West Indies sealed their first ODI series win over Test-playing opposition other than Zimbabwe and Bangladesh since April 2008, barely overcoming a heroic century from Ross Taylor, coming back after missing four matches due to a shoulder injury. Taylor was up against too many opponents today – an offspinner who went at two runs an over, a fiery quick who bowled at close to 150 kph, and his own batsmen, only one of whom managed a strike-rate of more than 60.

Still, Taylor kept slogging sixes over the leg side to bring the equation down to 50 runs required off the last seven overs. Sunil Narine bowled three of those overs for two, four and three runs. New Zealand were also denied a no-ball, and a free-hit, in Narine’s last over. Taylor holed out in the next over, the penultimate. Game over.    Continue reading →