New Zealand inflicted a further defeat on the West Indies in their second Twenty20 international yesterday to bring a dismal end to the visiting team’s tour.
The four-wicket win gave New Zealand the Twenty20 series 2-0, to go with their 2-0 win in the Tests. The one-day internationals were shared 2-2 — the West Indies’ only success on their six-week tour.
After New Zealand won the first Twenty20 by 81 runs, they were struggling at 79-5 in the second match before a 68-run partnership between Ross Taylor and Luke Ronchi turned the innings around.
Taylor played the anchor role with 39 off 41 balls, while Ronchi belted an unbeaten 51 off 28 deliveries in an innings that included four fours and two sixes.
The pair were particularly harsh on West Indies skipper Dwayne Bravo in the 15th over, when they took 17 runs to reduce the target from 54 off 36 balls to a more manageable 37 off 30.
They then took 15 off the 17th over by Jason Holder and although Taylor gave his wicket away with a mistimed slog-sweep to Chadwick Walton at deep midwicket, New Zealand were then in a position to coast to victory.
The outcome could have been different had the West Indies been more alert with their fielding.
Jesse Ryder was dropped twice as he raced to a quick 23 in nine balls, while Brendon McCullum received a life on his way to 17.
However, the biggest bungle was missing two chances to remove man of the match Ronchi on the first ball he faced.
Andre Russell dropped a caught-and-bowled opportunity and when Ronchi scampered through for a quick single, Tino Best was astray with his run-out throw at the stumps.
The West Indies, who won the toss and elected to bat first, appeared to have lost their way when reduced to 67-4 in the 11th over, before Denesh Ramdin and Andre Taylor breathed life into their innings.
They put on 70 for the fifth wicket, which ended when Fletcher (40) opted to sacrifice himself after he and Ramdin ended up at the same end in a running mixup.
Ramdin carried on to the end to be unbeaten on 55 off 31 balls in an innings which included three sixes and three fours.
New Zealand next host India, starting with the first of five one-day internationals on Sunday next week, to be followed by two Tests.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
After fleeing Sudan when civil war erupted, Al-Hilal captain Mohamed Abdelrahman and his teammates have defied the odds to reach the CAF Champions League quarter-finals. They are today to face title-holders Al-Ahly of Egypt in Cairo, with the return match in the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, on Tuesday next week. Al-Hilal and biggest domestic rivals Al-Merrikh relocated to Mauritania after a power struggle broke out in April 2023 between the Sudanese army and a paramilitary force. The civil war has claimed tens of thousands of lives and displaced more than 12 million people, according to the UN. The Democratic Republic of the Congo-born Al-Hilal
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS