The West Indies lost another close encounter with New Zealand on November 15, losing to the BlackCaps by a mere seven runs in the first of three One Day Internationals. The fixture, played in Christchurch, New Zealand saw strong performances from both teams and saw Shamar Springer handed an one day international debut.
West Indian captain Shai Hope won the toss in bowler friendly conditions and Matthew Forde took advantage of them early, continuing his hot form with the ball and picking up Rachin Ravindra and Will Young in successive deliveries. The Kiwis fought back, particularly through Daryl Mitchell who brought up a well played century, finishing on 119. The Windies restricted the hosts to under 300 runs, through the bowling of Jayden Seales who finished with figures of three wickets for 41 runs.
In reply, the Windies were slow going in the beginning. The need to consolidate the innings after the fall of early wickets, saw an extremely cautious approach by the top order. Middle order batsmen, particularly Sherfane Rutherford (55) saw a return to form and added valuable runs. But it was ultimately too much for heavy hitters like Romario Shepherd (38 runs off 24 deliveries) to make up the runs in the final over, as the hosts held their nerve.
The West Indies will now have to respond with a win to level on November 18.
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