| Event: | West Indies in New Zealand 2008/09 |
DateLine: 28th December 2008
Pyrotechnics from Ryder and McCullum at the top of the order helped New Zealand to overcome West Indies and level the two match Twenty20 series. Winning the toss and electing to bat first, New Zealand was propelled to 191/9 to which West Indies replied with 155/7.
Both the openers attacked from the word go as they added a whirlwind 130 in 70 balls but McCullum's departure signaled the collapse of nine wickets for just 61 runs as West Indies surged back into the match. McCullum's 34-ball stay featured some clean hitting both straight down the ground and through the leg side, including six boundaries and four sixes. McCullum tried to play a full delivery from Chris Gayle over cover but the ball took the toe of the bat and Shivnarine Chanderpaul took a good catch diving forward on the circle. Taylor was dismissed when Marshall took a blinder at square leg boundary. Ryder was the third man out for an ultra aggressive 41-ball 62. The rest of the batting caved in simply and the latter thrust was provided by Franklin who hammered 14 runs from an over thus propelling the score to 191. It was felt around the ground that the Kiwi batsmen had squandered their momentum.
The West Indian innings began relatively quietly and they lost Gayle as early as the second over. Wickets continued to tumble at one end but Sarwan after initial circumspection began to open up. Marshall, Chanderpaul and Findlay came and went and finally Sarwan fell for blistering 53. By then the run rate had reached an astronomical proposition. Pollard and Ramdin took the attack to the opposition but by then it was beyond their reach. The final scoreline of 36 runs told the story of the chase.
