The West Indies, defending a modest total of 164, claimed an electrifying seven-run victory in the first of their five-match T20I series against New Zealand at Eden Park.
The win was set up by captain Shai Hope and a brilliant all-round performance from Roston Chase, before a late attack from New Zealand’s Mitchell Santner provided a thrilling finish.
Sent into bat, the West Indies top order struggled to adapt to the bouncy Auckland pitch and found themselves in early trouble at 43 for 3, after Jacob Duffy had out Brandon King in the first over for three, and then Kyle Jamieson had Alick Athanaze caught for 16.
Jimmy Neesham then sent back the inform Akeem Auguste for two, after which skipper Shai Hope stepped in to rescue the innings and accelerated to 53 off 39 balls.
Hope found a reliable partner in Roston Chase (28) and added 54 for the fourth wicket, after which Chase and Rovman Powell put on 49 runs for the fifth wicket.
Powell (33), who was dropped twice, helped push the total to 164 for 6, with Romario Shepherd finishing off the innings with a few boundaries.
For New Zealand, Duffy was the pick of the bowlers, with 2 for 19 from his four overs.
The West Indies defence was ignited by a fiery spell from seamer Matthew Forde as he clean-bowled Devon Conway for 13, in a powerplay that yielded just 9 runs from his first three overs.
The spin of Chase proved devastating, yielding 3 for 26 and reducing the hosts to 107 for 9 in the 17th over.
Jayden Seales bagged three for 32 to help dismantle New Zealand’s batting lineup.
But just as a victory seemed inevitable, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner launched a counter-attack, smashing an unbeaten 55 from just 28 balls, which brought New Zealand back from the brink.
The match went down to the final over, with New Zealand needing 20 runs to win. Santner struck a six off Romario Shepherd, but the bowler held his nerve to seal the win by seven runs.
