West Indies keep finding ways to put in one miserable performance after the other as they slumped to a 90-run defeat in the 2nd T20I against New Zealand. After starting off with a good new ball spell, the hosts let it drift away in the middle overs and ended up conceding 215 runs – the most by a visiting team in West Indies. If that wasn’t enough, their batters never really arrived, and their inning was a painful sight that eventually ended after the mandatory 20 overs. In this piece, we look at some of the stats and moments that shaped the visitors’ series-winning performance.
New Zealand’s middle-overs rush
The West Indies bowlers started on a good note, conceding just 43 runs in the Powerplay and taking wickets of Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson. Nicholas Pooran shuffled his bowlers well as he used four pacers inside the first six overs. But, from there on, it was a different game.
In the next nine overs (7-15), New Zealand scored 108 runs, as Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips and Daryl Mitchell took the attack to the opposition. They were severe on West Indies’ lone spinner, Hayden Walsh Jr., hitting him for 55 runs off his four overs – all in the middle-overs phase.
West Indies’ Powerplay struggles
Chasing a mammoth total, West Indies needed their top order firing together. Instead, they capitulated. The hosts lost four wickets inside the Powerplay, ending with 19-4. All the wickets fell to the Black Caps’ spinners – a stark contrast to the first inning.
Even in the first match, they lost three wickets inside the Powerplay. Without a solid start from their top order, West Indies will struggle more often than not to either post a decent total or chase a big score.
Hosts misreading the pitch, again
For the third consecutive game, West Indies kept their best spinner, Akeal Hosein, out of the XI and went ahead with a solitary spin option in Hayden Walsh Jr. On the contrary, New Zealand played three spinners. The end result showed how badly the hosts misread the pitch, once again, as they did in the 5th T20I against India.
The three NZ spinners, Mitchell Santner, Michael Bracewell and Ish Sodhi combined to pick seven wickets amongst them. Santner and Bracewell registered identical figures of 3-15 from their respective four overs. Walsh Jr. conceded 55 runs and went wicketless.
West Indies have been playing back-to-back cricket for some time now, and that is bound to affect the players’ fitness, with mental fatigue also creeping in. But, their biggest issue has been understanding the conditions and picking the ideal XI for the day. They have consistently made poor choices on and off the field. They’ll look to identify their best XI for the 3rd T20I. New Zealand might try to make a couple of changes in the final T20I to test some players after already sealing the series.