Group C of the T20 World Cup: Trinidad
Twenty overs, West Indies 149-9: Rutherford 68* (39); Boult 3-16
Twenty overs, New Zealand 136-9: Phillips 40 (33), Joseph 4-19, Motie 3-25
West Indies prevailed by 13 runs.
Table and scorecard
- When Rutherford took the field, the co-hosts were trailing 22-4 and looked to be further behind for the majority of the innings, falling to 30-5 and 76-7.
- However, Rutherford remained composed and timed his attack perfectly, taking 37 off the final two overs of the innings to lead the West Indies to 149-9 in Trinidad.
- On a two-paced surface, that turned out to be more than sufficient as New Zealand collapsed throughout the middle overs of the chase.
- Left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie took 3-25 and fast bowler Alzarri Joseph grabbed 4-19 as the Black Caps finished on 136-9 despite some late hitting from Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips.
- The Windies can now look forward to a home tournament’s next phase, but New Zealand’s dreams of qualifying are in shambles after consecutive losses.
- They now need to win their remaining games against Uganda and Papua New Guinea and hope that other outcomes go their way.
- If Afghanistan defeated Papua New Guinea on Friday at 01:30 BST, they might be eliminated before they play again.
Rutherford attends the Trinidadian capacity crowd
- The Brian Lara Academy was buzzing with excitement before the game after the home team had won the first two matches of the competition.
- After six overs, it was all over as Trent Boult and the rest of New Zealand’s elite and extremely skilled new-ball assault destroyed the Windy’s top order.
- The locals were intermittently shaken during the next twelve overs, but a wicket dropped whenever it seemed the West Indies were gathering steam.
- Rutherford faced twenty-one balls and had managed only twenty, but he knew he had to wait his turn after watching his teammates come in, smash a couple of boundaries, and be quickly removed.
- He didn’t let loose until the ninth wicket fell, and he made up for his choice to decline a single off the opening ball of the 19th over by hitting three of the following four for six.
- After Santner hit two fours and another maximum in the final over, the Windies, who had hoped to reach 120, stormed to within striking distance of 150.
- With the ball, it was much more of a team effort, but Motie and Joseph took the crucial wickets.
- After the opener’s explosive start, Joseph got rid of Finn Allen, and in his first two overs, Motie got rid of Kane Williamson and Rachin Ravindra.
- Then, to put West Indies solidly ahead, he bowled Daryl Mitchell with a beauty in his third over.
- Joseph put a stop to Phillips’ brief threat to add another twist to the game as the Windies sealed the victory.
- However, the significance of Rutherford’s hit became even more evident when Santner hit three consecutive sixes in the final over, drastically cutting the winning margin.
- “This is just the beginning of something,” the response
- Sherfane Rutherford, the player of the match for the West Indies, said, “I was telling myself to take it deep and keep rotating the strike.” I was aware that I could always catch up at the finish if I started to feel the momentum.
- “It is only the start of something big to come and hopefully we can keep winning and the momentum going.”
- Captain of the West Indies, Rovman Powell: “With the bad weather we’ve been having, we knew it wouldn’t be an easy wicket and that someone would have to play a blinder.”
- “We believe individual brilliance is needed in T20 cricket sometimes and it was a fantastic knock from Sherfane Rutherford.”
- Kane Williamson, the captain of New Zealand: “We knew it would be difficult, and it turned out to be so.” There can be a discrepancy of one or two, so you have to figure something out.
- Sherfane Rutherford produced an innings of the highest caliber. For us, it was both really remarkable and frustrating.”
Source:
BBC
