New Zealand v West Indies, 2013-14
Wisden's review of the first ODI, New Zealand v West Indies, 2013-14
15-Apr-2014
At Auckland, December 26, 2013 (day/night). West Indies won by two wickets. Toss: West Indies.
A match low on batting quality was swung West Indies' way by Sammy's 43 off 27 balls; he almost angrily carried them across the line with a series of vicious blows as team-mates departed regularly. They needed 61 when Sammy arrived at six down, and were still 36 short when Ramdin became McClenaghan's fifth victim. But Holder helped reduce the target to ten before he was caught down the leg side, and Sammy was not going to hang around to see what the last two batsmen could offer: he heaved a six and swatted a four in McClenaghan's last over to seal victory with more than 22 overs to spare. New Zealand had lost their top four for single figures after being put in. That included Jesse Ryder, who drove to point for a five-ball duck on his return to international cricket after a gap of nearly two years, the last ten months of which had included life-threatening injuries from an assault, and a ban for taking a prohibited substance. The only meaningful contributions came from the McCullum brothers, though Brendon was far from impressed at his lbw decision, upheld on referral, believing he was so far down the pitch as to make DRS unreliable.
Man of the Match: D. J. G. Sammy.
A match low on batting quality was swung West Indies' way by Sammy's 43 off 27 balls; he almost angrily carried them across the line with a series of vicious blows as team-mates departed regularly. They needed 61 when Sammy arrived at six down, and were still 36 short when Ramdin became McClenaghan's fifth victim. But Holder helped reduce the target to ten before he was caught down the leg side, and Sammy was not going to hang around to see what the last two batsmen could offer: he heaved a six and swatted a four in McClenaghan's last over to seal victory with more than 22 overs to spare. New Zealand had lost their top four for single figures after being put in. That included Jesse Ryder, who drove to point for a five-ball duck on his return to international cricket after a gap of nearly two years, the last ten months of which had included life-threatening injuries from an assault, and a ban for taking a prohibited substance. The only meaningful contributions came from the McCullum brothers, though Brendon was far from impressed at his lbw decision, upheld on referral, believing he was so far down the pitch as to make DRS unreliable.
Man of the Match: D. J. G. Sammy.