Trent Boult’s superlative effort with the ball went in vain as New Zealand were handed their second successive defeat in the T20 World Cup 2024 by the West Indies at the Brian Lara Stadium in Trinidad on Thursday.
The left-arm pacer bowled his heart out to finish with impressive figures of 3/16 in four overs, including a first-over wicket-maiden, which eventually curtailed the big-hitting West Indies batting unit to 149/9. But the Black Caps could manage only 136/9 as they fell short by 13 runs in the Group C encounter.
West Indies cricket team batter Sherfane Rutherford remained unbeaten on 68 off 39 balls and his unbroken last-wicket partnership of 37 off just 13 balls with Gudakesh Motie proved the game changer. For the Kiwis, Tim Southee and Lockie Ferguson picked up two wickets each and supported Boult well.
The speedster, who plays for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League, picked a wicket with the last ball of the first over after New Zealand elected to field first. West Indies opener Johnson Charles, after playing out four dot balls against an accurate Boult, looked to free his hands, but the inswinging ball found its way to the timber after getting an inside edge.
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Southee and Ferguson built on the solid platform provided by Boult to put the Windies on the mat, as they were five down for only 30 runs. Though the home side were placed at 75/6, Andre Rusell and Rutherford were looking to accelerate after good starts, when Boult came in for his second spell.
The Kiwi pacer made an instant impact outwitting Russell with an off-cutter. The West Indian miscued the slower delivery straight to Ferguson at short third. In his last over, Boult cleaned up Alzarri Joseph to pick his third of the night. Boult’s last two overs cost only seven runs and included two wickets.
Though Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner’s late blitz with the bat took the New Zealand cricket team close, it was not enough to save them from their second defeat on the run. Phillips top-scored for New Zealand with 40 off 33 balls, hitting two sixes and three fours.
The Kiwis are yet to open their account in the T20 World Cup and are placed at the bottom of Group C. New Zealand will have to win both their remaining matches by huge margins and hope for Afghanistan to lose both in a similar way, to have any chance of progressing to the Super Eight stage.
New Zealand are up against Uganda in their next T20 World Cup 2024 match at the same venue on Saturday.
