AUCKLAND – Darren Sammy made an unbeaten 43 from 27 balls to help the West Indies to a two-wicket win over New Zealand in the series-opening limited-overs international yesterday, helping the tourists rebound from their 2-0 Test cricket series defeat.
The win, completed in only 27.3 overs when the West Indies reached 157-8 in reply to the Black Caps’ modest 156, overshadowed the return to international cricket after two years of New Zealand opener Jesse Ryder, who made a five-ball duck and dropped a catch.
Man-Of-The-Match Sammy held together the lower part of the West Indies innings, battering three sixes and five fours to guide his team home after Mitchell McClenaghan had taken 5-58 in 9.3 overs for New Zealand.
The Eden Park match was notable for the performances of captains and brothers. New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum top-scored for his team with 51 while brother Nathan McCullum made 47, helping to add 52 for the last two wickets before New Zealand’s innings ended in the 43rd over.
West Indies captain Dwayne Bravo took 4-44, while his brother Darren Bravo held three catches as the tourists dismissed New Zealand in 41.2 overs after winning the toss and bowling.
Sammy then took the reins of a disordered West Indies reply to lift his team to an important victory.
The allrounder set out to assert himself at the expense of the New Zealand bowlers, particularly the aggressive McClenaghan, and did so with a series of forceful, if improvised shots.
McClenaghan took the first four wickets to help New Zealand make a deficient total seem competitive, though the erratic fast bowler embarrassed himself and his team by bowling head-high full tosses, jostling and abusing batsmen and scattering six wides.
Few bowlers in international cricket have taken a five-wicket haul from a more unfitting display. McClenaghan started strongly, bowling openers Kieran Powell and Johnson Charles with excellent deliveries which nipped back off a length. After having the West Indies reeling at 60-4, he returned to claim the important wicket of Denesh Ramdin.
But his antics, inappropriate to a bowler of limited pace and control, detracted from his career-best bowling effort.
He specifically targeted Sammy, who had the last laugh when he hit McClenaghan for a six and a four to clinch the West Indies’ victory.
“I think the team needed a victory, we needed to start well as a wounded team,” Dwayne Bravo said. “We are missing some key players but it’s important that the players who come in grab the opportunity.”
Lendl Simmons made 34, lifting the tourists from 60-4 to 94-5 before Sammy steered them home from a tenuous 96-6, adding 25 runs with Ramdin and a further 26 with Jason Holder.
“I don’t think we played very well right throughout the game,” Brendon McCullum said. “Credit to Darren Sammy at the end there, holding his nerve and coming out and wresting the game back their way.” (AP)
