NZ withstand WI's late charge for thrilling win

In what proved to be a flip of scripts from Thursday, West Indies' late charge towards the 208-run target, led by Rovman Powell's blazing 16-ball 45, went in vain as New Zealand secured a thrilling 3-run win at Eden Park to level the series 1-1, on Friday.

Chasing the massive target, the visitors were reeling at 83 for 6 late in the 13th over. However, Powell, supported by Romario Shepherd (16-ball 34) and Matthew Forde (13-ball 29*) brought the equation down to 7 off the last four balls. But Kyle Jamieson used his slower balls to good effect to concede only three runs off the last four deliveries and help the hosts to a series-levelling victory.

Earlier in the day, New Zealand made a steady start after being put in to bat, with openers Devon Conway and Tim Robinson putting on a 55-run stand off just seven overs. Both the openers departed in quick succession, and the onus fell on Rachin Ravindra and Mark Chapman to sustain the momentum. While both were fairly conservative early on in the innings, as New Zealand clawed their way to 81 for 2 by the end of the 13th over, Chapman cut loose thereafter.

He smashed three sixes and a boundary off successive deliveries off Shepherd, and then took apart Jayden Seales for 23 runs a couple of overs later. Even as Ravindra departed in between the two overs, Daryl Mitchell joined the assault as the duo smoked three sixes off Akeal Hosein to accelerate the innings further. The 82 runs picked in those four overs before heading into the death, proved to be the turning point of the contest.

Even as West Indies clawed back a bit in the next three overs, Seales got taken apart for 19 more in the last over by Mitchell Santner and Mitchell as New Zealand went past the 200-run mark.

In response, West Indies were too slow to get going. Brandon King fell for a third-ball duck in the opening over, while Alick Athanaze, despite hitting three sixes and a few boundaries, couldn't provide the power that the visitors needed early on. By the end of the powerplay, they were still motoring along at run-a-ball. New Zealand bowlers then snapped three wickets in quick succession after the powerplay to ensure that the set batters didn't get the required momentum, reducing West Indies to 74 for 4 at the end of the 11th over.

Jason Holder clubbed Ish Sodhi for a couple of sixes, but departed soon after, leaving the lower order to wipe out nearly half of the runs. 75 runs in four overs, a carnage led by Powell, brought the equation down to a gettable 16 off the final over. However, despite being smashed for two boundaries in three balls, Jamieson held his nerves to help the side restrict West Indies to 204 for 8.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 207/5 in 20 overs (Mark Chapman 78, Tim Robinson 39; Roston Chase 2-33) beat West Indies 204/8 in 20 overs (Rovman Powell 45, Romario Shepherd 34; Mitchell Santner 3-31, Ish Sodhi 3-39) by 3 runs