by Mick the Ram

The West Indies booked their place in the T20 World Cup Super 8s with a brilliant fight-back victory over New Zealand.

Batting first in the crucial Group C fixture at Brian Lara Academy, it looked to be slipping away for much of the West Indies innings as they struggled to get some accurate kiwi bowling away, but powerful hitting from Sherfane Rutherford in the final 2 overs lifted their score to a respectable 149-9.

That always looked a challenging target and brilliant bowling from Alzarri Joseph and Gudakesh Motie had their opponents on the back foot.

Despite some late blows, the New Zealanders could not get near to their target and they now are on the brink of an early exit, as they rely on other results going their way and could actually be eliminated before they play again, with still two fixtures remaining.

New Zealand in early control

Leading into the match the Trinidad crowd created a great atmosphere with anticipation of the side progressing into the next stage of the competition, after impressing in their opening two victories.

The excitement soon flattened however, after the top order were dismantled by some top class new-ball bowling, backed by an experienced middle-overs attack. 

Wickets tumbled at regular intervals as the West Indies struggled to find any rhythm or momentum to their innings. When 30-5 became 76-7 it was looking desperate, and although the pitch appeared two-paced, at 112-9 from 18 overs the score looked well short of being a total that could be defended.

Rutherford explodes into action

However, Rutherford – who had come to the wicket with just 22 on the board at the fall of the fourth wicket – had bided his time, knowing he could let loose at the end, provided he still had company at the other end.

He actually turned down a run off the first ball of the 19th over, but the proceeded to smash three of the next four balls for six. Two fours and another maximum (his sixth six) off last over lifted the score to 149 and suddenly the mood in the ground changed to one of great expectation.

Rutherford had bludgeoned 37 runs from the final 11 balls and had timed his onslaught to perfection, as he reached 68 not out, which was the talented left-hander’s highest T20 score.

Tight bowling completes the job

A shell-shocked New Zealand team who had probably felt they had the game in control, had to re-think their strategy.

They did make a solid start, with some decent strikes from opener Finn Allen, but when he was removed by pace-man Joseph for 26 and left-arm spinner Motie accounted for Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, and the dangerous Daryl Mitchell in each of his first three overs, the home nation were well and truly on top.

Joseph ended with excellent figures of 4-19 and Motie 3-25 as the West Indies sealed a third consecutive win and a spot in the Super Eights.

Departure lounge calling?

The Black Caps now need to beat Uganda and Papua New Guinea in their remaining games and hope other results go their way.

Should Afghanistan beat PNG before the first of those matches, then one of the tournament’s strongly fancied outfits to actually win the competition, will be one of the first to be eliminated.

Dream come true

Player of the match Sherfane Rutherford was naturally upbeat after the game, explaining how he was telling himself to take his innings deep and to try and keep rotating the strike. He said: “I knew if I started to feel the momentum I could always make up at the end”.

He confessed that playing a World Cup match was a dream for him: “That’s what we live for, so I am just happy to contribute.” Remarking on the state of the pitch he said: “It was a very tough surface to bat on, so 149 was a brilliant score. It is only the start of something big to come and hopefully we can keep winning and the momentum going.”

Appreciation from opposition camp

The New Zealand captain Williamson praised Rutherford’s innings and promised that his side would battle on: “His innings was of the highest quality. It was incredibly impressive and frustrating for us and in these games the difference can be an over or two. We cannot make excuses, we are back on in a couple of days and we want to see better and smarter performances.”