New Zealand coasted to a four-wicket win over the West Indies in the third ODI in Hamilton on Saturday for a series sweep.
The tourists’ top order failed to fire once again, skittled for 161 with Matt Henry taking 4-43 before the Black Caps eased to 162-6 off 30.2 overs.
The chase started poorly, with the home side reduced to 32-3, before Mark Chapman’s steady 64 was supplemented by an unbeaten 40 from Michael Bracewell.
The most one-sided match of the series left New Zealand savouring a 3-0 triumph, following their 3-1 win in the T20 series.
The teams will next contest three Tests, starting in Christchurch on 2 December.
Henry, expected to be a key figure in the Test series, hoped they could continue their winning momentum into the longer format.
“It’s an exciting little stretch of cricket coming up,” he said. “We’ve been playing some really good cricket and we’ve been winning some of the key moments, which has got us over the line. Everyone’s stepping up in different ways, which is great.”
The West Indies won the toss but their specialist batsmen struggled to establish themselves, a problem evident throughout both white-ball series.
Captain Shai Hope scored a century in game two but he lamented the inability of their top order to build big scores across the series.
He said it was unacceptable for their innings to last just 36.2 overs at Seddon Park.
“Again, we’re just not clicking with the bat unfortunately,” he said. “We haven’t assessed the conditions and adapted as quickly as we should, that was a big issue in this game in particular.
“We just didn’t get in. We didn’t get that flow, that momentum.”
Henry rocked the visitors early with two wickets in the space of three balls in his third over, removing opener Ackeem Auguste for 17 and Keacy Carty without scoring.
Wickets fell regularly from that point, including that of Hope, caught down the leg side for 16 off the bowling of Zak Foulkes to follow his century in game two.
With his team teetering at 95-7, Roston Chase led a low-order rearguard with 38 before falling to Henry.
Top order trio Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra and Will Young all departed early for New Zealand but Chapman combined with Bracewell for 75 runs for the fifth wicket to make the outcome safe.
Chapman swatted 19 runs off Matthew Forde in the 27th over to lift the 31-year-old past 50 for a seventh time. His 63-ball knock featured eight fours and two sixes.
– AFP
Photo: Fiona Goodall/Getty Images
