New Zealand Vs West Indies Highlights, 2nd T20I: Kiwis Hold Nerve, Win Thriller By 3 Runs To Level Series

Greetings and welcome to everyone joining us this Thursday. We are back with our coverage of the second T20I between New Zealand and West Indies, so watch this space for the build-up, toss and live updates.

New Zealand: Devon Conway (wk), Tim Robinson, Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner (c), Zakary Foulkes, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy, Ish Sodhi, Nathan Smith, Mitchell Hay

West Indies: Brandon King, Alick Athanaze, Shai Hope (wk/c), Ackeem Auguste, Roston Chase, Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Matthew Forde, Akeal Hosein, Jayden Seales, Sherfane Rutherford, Khary Pierre, Amir Jangoo, Shamar Springer

West Indies have won the toss and elected to bowl first against New Zealand.

New Zealand: Tim Robinson, Devon Conway (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Zakary Foulkes, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy

West Indies: Brandon King, Alick Athanaze, Shai Hope (wk/c), Roston Chase, Ackeem Auguste, Rovman Powell, Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Matthew Forde, Akeal Hosein, Jayden Seales

The first ball will be bowled at 11:45am IST. The New Zealand vs West Indies, 2nd T20I will be telecast on the Sony Sports Network TV channels in India. It will be live streamed on the Sony LIV app and website, and FanCode app and website in the country.

The match gets underway at Eden Park. Tim Robinson faces up to Windies seamer Jayden Seales, with Devon Conway at the other end. Robinson gets off the mark with a flicked four past short fine leg off the second delivery. Two singles follow as six runs come from the first over.

Tim Robinson survives a big LBW shout from Matthew Forde, and is off the blocks quickly. His opening partner Devon Conway takes a few balls to settle in, before launching into an outrageous ramp shot over the wicketkeeper’s head for a six.

Robinson has already smashed four fours and a six in his 14-ball stay, and is the chief driver of New Zealand’s run rate in the powerplay. Conway has only got 15 off 22, but can certainly accelerate once he gets into his groove.

After a decent powerplay, New Zealand lose two quick wickets in the form of openers Devon Conway and Tim Robinson. Matthew Forde knocks the struggling Conway over, while Romario Shepherd castles Robinson. Rachin Ravindra and Mark Chapman are now in the middle, with the run rate having dropped well below eight.

Mark Chapman really gets into the act against Romario Shepherd, clobbering 26 runs off the 13th over to revive the BlackCaps’ momentum. Rachin Ravindra, however, falls soon after to Roston Chase, and that brings Daryl Mitchell into the middle.

What a fantastic innings from Chapman! The southpaw races away to a 19-ball fifty and continues to stroke the ball freely, before Jason Holder gets his number. The 31-year-old has done his job, however, having struck a game-changing 28-ball 78. The remaining batters now have the licence to keep going big and take New Zealand past 200 at the very least.

Like the previous game, New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner tees off at the death again, effortlessly lofting a last-ball six as the hosts take 19 off the last over to finish with a 207-run total. That will take some chasing from the Windies.

Jacob Duffy make a cracking start with the new ball for New Zealand. The Windies, chasing a daunting 208-run target, lose Brandon King off the third ball of the innings. What’s more, it is a maiden to boot as the hosts are right on top after the first three overs.

Shai Hope and Alick Athanaze have steadied the Windies ship after the early dismissal of Brandon King. The second-wicket partnership is worth 49 runs and though the run rate is just seven, the visitors know that with wickets in hand, they can try and cash in in the second half. Long way to go for that, however.

New Zealand have firmly wrested control of the match in the middle overs. Ish Sodhi has Alick Athanaze holing out to short third after a miscued reverse sweep, and then Mark Chapman pulls off a brilliant catch to send back Ackeem Auguste. Mitchell Santner later gets rid of his opposite number Shai Hope, and Sodhi then cleans up Jason Holder too. The Windies have lost half their side with 117 more needed from eight overs.

Roston Chase continues the procession of West Indies’ batters to the dugout, as Mitchell Santner has him caught at deep extra cover. The visitors have enough batting firepower, and Rovman Powell is still in the middle. But the required run rate is over 18 now, and this is a herculean task.

Hang on, this match is not over yet. Romario Shepherd and Rovman Powell have unfurled their trademark six-hitting prowess to bring the run rate down and the target also within reach. Santner snares Shepherd eventually but Powell is still in the middle, batting at 34 off just 12 balls. 30 runs needed off the last two overs.

Goodness me! That was quite an extraordinary conclusion to the match, which seemed to be in New Zealand’s back pocket when Powell and Shepherd got into the six-hitting zone, and all hell broke loose.

Powell brings the equation down to 16 off the last over, and then 6 off 3. But he perishes to Jamieson off the fourth ball, and the Kiwis hold on for a nervy three-run win in Auckland. They thus square the series 1-1, with three more games to go!

WI: 204/8 (20) lose to NZ 207/5 by 3 runs