New Zealand are set to face West Indies in the second Twenty20 international on Sunday at the Windsor Park and will be aiming to clinch the limited-over series, after winning the three-match Test series.
The Black Caps prevailed over the hosts in the rain-shortened first T20 encounter at the same ground by 12 runs through Duckworth Lewis method on Saturday.
Put into bat, West Indies scored 132 runs, courtesy of an 88-run partnership for the third wicket between Darren Bravo (30) and Andre Fletcher. Fletcher ended with a 39-ball 52, which featured four mighty sixes and one four.
Kiwis picked up wickets at regular intervals and never allowed the hosts to get the desired acceleration in the entire innings. Pacers Tim Southee and Trent Boult hit the right areas and knotted the Windies batsmen, finishing with two wickets each.
Skipper Brendon McCullum led the Black Caps' charge, after losing opener Jimmy Neesham (11) early on in the innings. McCullum (40) and Kane Williamson (19) stitched a 53-run partnership for the second wicket to help New Zealand recover from the early jolt.
Ross Taylor made unbeaten 20-ball 28 and Corey Anderson (15) played a cameo at the end to put the touring party over the line with three overs to spare in the first of the two-match series.
Windies spinners Samuel Badree and Sunil Narine maintained tight line and length but the damp outfield made the ball wet and difficult to grip as they failed to get any purchase off the deck. Skipper Darren Sammy was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while medium pacer Krishmar Santokie chipped in with a wicket.
"It's probably easier from the batting perspective when the ball is skidding on a bit," Taylor said. "West Indies had to bowl with a ball being like soap and getting it changed two-three times. I don't think I've ever played in a game like that. There was a big crowd and hopefully they got their money's worth."
Taylor praised the bowlers for restricting West Indies to a modest total by picking up wickets at regular intervals. The 30-year-old added that chasing a target above 150 would have been tough and also hoped that the team can carry the momentum into the second match as well.
"We had plans and the plans came off. I think the way Timmy (Tim Southee) and Boulty (Trent Boult) executed those were outstanding," Taylor pointed out. "We started off very well but through the middle, they started getting partnerships and we were starting to get on the back foot.
"It looked like we could be chasing 150-155 off 18 overs on that wicket. It could have been very tough, especially with the rain around and Duckworth-Lewis. We'll take a lot of positives from that and hopefully, we can do the same tomorrow regardless of whether we are batting or bowling first."
Expected line-ups: West Indies: Darren Sammy (c), Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Andre Fletcher, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Andre Russell, Krishmar Santokie, Lendl Simmons and Dwayne Smith.
New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (c), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Tom Latham, Jimmy Neesham, Luke Ronchi (wk), Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson.
Where to Watch Live
The second Twenty20 is scheduled for a 2:00 pm local and 6:00 am NZST (11:30 pm IST, 6:00 pm GMT) start with live coverage on Ten Cricket and Ten HD in India. Catch ball-by-ball update of the match online HERE or HERE. Catch the action live on TV on Sky Sports 2 in New Zealand, while viewers can also live stream the action HERE.
Viewers in the US can watch the game on Willow TV while the action can also be live streamed HERE or HERE. Watch the match in Caribbean on Sports Max, while South Africa and Sub Saharan Africa viewers can view the match on SuperSport and live online HERE.
