Opener Devin Conway and skipper Mitchell Santner both starred with the bat for New Zealand to upstage Shai Hope’s explosive century and propel their team to a gripping five-wicket win over West Indies in their rain-affected second One Day International here on Wednesday.
The West Indies captain smashed a boundary laden 109 off just 69 balls, which helped them recover from 86 for five to post a formidable 247 for nine, after persistent showers forced the contest at McLean Park to be reduced to 34 overs per side.
But Conway smashed 90 at the top of the order, while Santner provided the finishing touches by bludgeoning an unbeaten 34 off just 15 balls, to see the home side reach 248 for five with three balls remaining and give them an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series.
Both teams were forced to wait to take the field after rain delayed the start of the match by three hours, resulting in 32 overs being lost.
Once play resumed, New Zealand’s fast bowling duo of Kyle Jamieson and Matt Henry stifled openers John Campbell and Ackeem Auguste by sending down three maidens in the first four overs.
The pressure eventually told when Campbell threw his bat at an outswinger from Jamieson and was caught at third man for four with the score on 15.
Keacy Carty didn’t last long, driving a delivery from Jamieson straight to backward point to be out for seven.
His exit brought Hope to the crease, and it didn’t take long for him to get going, belting Blair Tickner for two boundaries to end the 11th over.
But has become the norm, the West Indies suffered a top order collapse, losing the wickets of Auguste for 22, Sherfane Rutherford for 13 and Roston Chase for two, to slip to 86 for five in the 16th over.
Hope helped to stage a remarkable recovery through partnerships of 44 with Justin Greaves (22), 47 with Romario Shepherd (22) and 43 with Matthew Forde who made 21.
He got to his half century off 42 balls by guiding Nathan Smith down to third man for a single before causing complete havoc in the final 10 overs, which saw the Windies blast 117 runs.
Hope clobbered Matt Henry for three fours in the 29th over to move into the 80s and followed that up by hitting Tickner for two boundaries in the ensuing over to accelerate to 90.
Forde got in on the action by swatting Jamieson for three fours and a six to start the 31st over which yielded 19 runs.
After driving Henry for two successive boundaries in the penultimate over, Hope, who was named Player-of-the-Match, reached his 19th ODI century and first against New Zealand in the final over by hitting Jamieson down the ground for a huge six.
In doing so, Hope became the second fastest West Indian to reach 6000 ODI runs (142 innings), behind only Sir Vivian Richards who achieved the feat in 141 innings, while also equaling Brian Lara for the second most ODI centuries (19), six behind Chris Gayle’s record of 25.
Smith was New Zealand’s best bowler with 4-42, while Jamieson ended with 3-44.
Needing to score at over seven runs an over, New Zealand got off to the perfect start with Conway and Rachin Ravindra, who made 56, putting on 106 runs for the first wicket.
Justin Greaves got the breakthrough when he had Ravindra caught at point after facing 46 balls, inclusive of five sixes and four fours.
The wickets of Will Young for 11 and the dangerous Mark Chapman, who failed to get off the mark, followed in quick succession to see New Zealand slip to 136 for three in the 22nd over.
Conway looked set to reach his century until he slashed Shamar Springer straight into the hands of backward point after striking 13 fours and one six off 84 balls.
West Indies seemed in control of the contest with the home side requiring 40 runs from the last three overs.
However, Santner smashed Forde for two fours and a six in the 32nd over that leaked 18 runs and then clobbered Springer for a four and six in the penultimate over that produced 14 runs.
Needing eight runs off the final over bowled by Jayden Seales, Tom Latham guided a head-high full toss from the bowler over the keeper for four, with the delivery also being called a no-ball.
Latham only got a single off the ensuing free hit, but they were able to pick up singles off the next two deliveries to ice the contest.
Latham ended on 39 not out off 29 balls in an unbeaten 54-run partnership.
The third and final ODI is scheduled to be played on Friday. (CMC)
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