Santner made New Zealand win (Photo: PTI)
West Indies vs New Zealand: With a narrow escape in the fourth match against West Indies, New Zealand has secured its hold on the 5 ODI series. New Zealand won the fourth ODI by just 1 wicket. With this, it has taken an unassailable 3-1 lead over host West Indies after the first 4 matches of the ODI series. The fourth ODI played between West Indies and New Zealand in Bridgetown was low scoring, in which not even 200 runs were scored. Batting first, the West Indies team was all out after scoring 188 runs in 44.4 overs. In reply, New Zealand struggled to score 189 runs. New Zealand’s captain Mitchell Santner became the hero of the successful run chase, who supported the sinking ship of the team.
New Zealand defeated West Indies in the fourth ODI
While chasing the target of 189 runs against West Indies, New Zealand got its first blow even before the account was opened. After that, just as 6 runs were on the score board, he got a second blow. After this, there were small partnerships for the next 3 wickets, after which the team’s score reached 142 runs for 5 wickets in the 26th over. Even New Zealand’s path to victory seems easy.
Out of the top 5 wickets that fell, Gutakesh Moti took 2 wickets for Tom Latham and Mark Chapman. Gutakesh Moti’s havoc continued to wreak havoc on New Zealand’s batsmen. In no time, New Zealand lost 4 more wickets for the next 38 runs, out of which 3 were taken by Moti alone.
Moti took 5 wickets for 47 runs, still New Zealand won
Against the target of 189 runs, New Zealand’s 9 wickets had fallen at 180 runs. In this, Gutakesh Moti alone took 5 wickets and spent 47 runs in his 10 over spell. The match was on and could have taken any turn because West Indies also had only one last wicket to fall. But, the one thing that still kept New Zealand ahead in the match was its captain Mitchell Santner.
The captain did wonders for New Zealand
All-rounder Santner became the trouble-shooter for his team in the fourth ODI and scored the necessary 9 runs which were required for the team’s victory. Santner remained unbeaten till the end after scoring 34 runs in 56 balls. Earlier, in bowling also, Santner had played an important role in restricting West Indies to the score of 188 by taking 2 wickets. Mitchell Santner got the Player of the Match for his all-round performance in the fourth ODI.
West Indies won the first match of the ODI series. After that, New Zealand captured the ODI series by winning the next three matches. Now the next and last ODI of the series is on 22 July in Bridgetown. That match will also take place in Bridgetown.
