New Zealand prevail in another last-over thriller

For the third time in the last five days, a T20I involving New Zealand and West Indies went to the very last over. And for the second time in a row, Kyle Jameison ensured his team prevailed in a nine-run victory in Nelson. The 2-1 lead at the end of the third fixture in the five-game series could've also gone the other way if the stubborn ninth-wicket pairing of Romario Shepherd and Shamar Springer had it their way. They dragged their team from the rubble and offered hope but the home team held on right at the end to keep the visitors in the deficit.

When Jamieson stood at the top of his run-up ahead of the final over, and had Mitchell Santner talking to him, it was a moment of deja vu for both. Just two days ago, they were in this very situation - in Eden Park, when the fast bowler had to defend 16. On Sunday, he had four fewer. He ran in to bowl to Shepherd, who was in the mood to take his team over the line. But the West Indian couldn't put away a slow length ball and a low, wide full-toss dished at him first up. Equation went to 11 off 4 and then 10 off 3 when Jamieson bowled an excellent bouncer to Shepherd that the batter swung at and missed. The next ball was a low full-toss on the stumps that Shepherd hit to Daryl Mitchell at long-off.

Shepherd trudged back dejected but that the chase even came this far was down to him and his ninth-wicket batting partner Springer. West Indies finished well with the ball (more on that below) but their top-order crashed and burned to give New Zealand the initiative at the start of the chase. By the first half of it, West Indies were already six down. Ish Sodhi picked three wickets to climb up to third spot in the list of leading wicket-takers in men's T20Is, with only Rashid Khan and Tim Southee ahead of him. When Springer joined Shepherd, West Indies were in complete doldrums at 88/8 in 12.3 overs, staring at a treacherous mountain to climb to even come close. Shepherd and Springer took on the trek. Springer began his charge with a six off the first ball he faced and Shepherd carted Duffy around.

Fours and sixes came off every over as West Indies went into the death overs needing 52 off 24 balls. Jamieson came back and was greeted with two fours that took the equation to 43 off 18. The two batters then pushed harder in the 18th over with one four and two sixes in a 19-run over. In the 19th, the tide appeared to have completely shifted as Shepherd hit Duffy for a six and a four. However, the fast bowler bounced back with two dots and the crucial wicket of Springer, ending a 78-run stand that came off 39 deliveries. Jamieson then lapped up Duffy's efforts to close out the win in the final over.

Before the bowlers did their bidding, New Zealand were initially carried by the likes of Devon Conway (56 off 34) and Daryl Mitchell (41 off 24) in an innings that started solidly, consolidated even better but tapered off at the end. Besides those two batters, Rachin Ravindra too chipped in with a cameo as New Zealand amassed runs at more than 10-an-over in the middle-overs. At 142/3 in 15 overs, New Zealand were primed to get close or even go beyond the 200-run mark but Michael Bracewell's run out in the 16th over was the start of a collapse. New Zealand went from 144/3 to 175/9, losing six wickets at the death for the addition of just 35 runs. That slip up however, did not end up costing them.

Brief Scores: New Zealand 177/9 in 20 overs (Devon Conway 56, Daryl Mitchell 41; Matthew Forde 2-20, Jason Holder 2-31) beat West Indies 168 in 19.5 overs (Romario Shepherd 49, Shamar Springer 39; Ish Sodhi 3-34, Jacob Duffy 3-36) by 9 runs