Hope Lifts West Indies With Lone-Hand Century

Earlier, Hope once again carried West Indies. He lifted them from 130 for 6 to 247 for 9. His 19th ODI hundred came on a day when batting looked extremely difficult.

Rain delayed the start by nearly three hours. Santner chose to bowl with a smile, and his decision proved right. The surface offered big movement. Kyle Jamieson bowled three maidens in his first four overs and removed John Campbell with a ball that straightened late.

West Indies struggled to 18 for 0 in a reduced seven-over powerplay. They then attacked Blair Tickner to break the pressure. But Jamieson returned and struck again, finishing with a superb opening spell of 5-2-12-2.

Hope then took charge. He hooked Tickner for six, drove him through covers, and became the second-fastest West Indian after Viv Richards to reach 6000 ODI runs. He kept going even as wickets fell at the other end.

Sherfane Rutherford provided a burst of sixes before Santner and Nathan Smith dismissed him and Roston Chase. Despite the collapse, Hope sped up. Shepherd smashed Henry for two sixes, while Forde hammered Jamieson for three fours and a six. Hope moved from the 90s to his century with two crisp boundaries and a straight hit down the ground.

He finished with 13 fours and four sixes. But despite his brilliance, West Indies fell short again.

New Zealand Recover After Tough Start

The chase swung throughout. Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra struggled early on a difficult Napier pitch. But once they settled, they built momentum. They added 106 runs off 99 balls — New Zealand’s first 100-run opening partnership in ODIs since February 2020.

The early overs were tense. Forde’s swing troubled both batters. New Zealand crawled to 13 for 0 after five overs. Conway broke the pressure with boundaries off Seales, while Ravindra lifted him for the first six. After the powerplay, Romario Shepherd also leaked runs.

Ravindra grew confident and reached his fifty with a slog-sweep six. But he soon holed out at backward point. Will Young followed quickly, struggling for timing before falling for a slow 8. Mark Chapman also departed, leaving New Zealand wobbling.

Conway kept the chase alive. He scored freely, reached his fifty, and pushed New Zealand forward. However, he fell for 90 after cutting Springer straight to point. With the asking rate above ten, Latham and Santner joined hands. They waited for the right moment before exploding in the last overs and took New Zealand home.

Santner Turns the Game in Final Overs

The equation came down to 40 runs off 18 balls. Santner then attacked Matthew Forde, who had bowled tightly until then. He smashed him for 4, 6, 4 and collected 18 runs from the 32nd over. He continued the assault in the 33rd over, hitting Shamar Springer for another four and six. New Zealand needed just eight runs from the final over.

West Indies still had a chance. But Jayden Seales bowled a chest-high no-ball, and Tom Latham guided it over the wicketkeeper. Santner then hit the winning boundary through extra cover with three balls remaining. Seales collapsed to the ground in disappointment and needed support to leave the field. Mitchell produced a brilliant late burst and guided New Zealand to a five-wicket win