After a short turnaround from their T20I series against India, West Indies lost the T20I series opener against the visiting New Zealand side at Sabina Park in Kingston, Jamaica. The losing margin of 13 runs might indicate a closely fought contest, but West Indies were always far behind in the chase. They only came close courtesy of a splendid attacking partnership of 26-ball 58 between Romario Shepherd and Odean Smith. In this piece, we look at the key moments and stats from the 1st T20I of a 3-match series.
Williamson amongst runs
Kane Williamson, the New Zealand skipper, was playing his first T20I since the T20 World Cup Final against Australia in November 2021. Between then and this match, he went through a horrible patch of form in the 2021 IPL, where he scored just 216 runs across 12 innings at a sluggish strike rate of 93.50.
Williamson left all of it behind him as he kept the New Zealand inning moving while wickets kept falling around him regularly. His 33-ball 47 not only maintained the tempo of the inning but also allowed Jimmy Neesham to provide a final flourish. The team management would be relieved to see Williamson back amongst some runs.
Santner controlling the chase
Since Daniel Vettori’s retirement, Mitchell Santner has filled his gap by taking on his role of providing control in the middle overs. Against West Indies, Santner was phenomenal. In a game where 357 runs were scored at 8.93 RPO, Santner conceded just 17 runs off his four overs at 4.75 RPO.
Santner even picked up three wickets to go with his economic spell. Three of the top five West Indies batters were left-handed, which is usually considered a negative matchup for a left-arm orthodox bowler like Santner. Despite that, he ended up removing two of those left-handers.
The key to his success was his bowling length. Santner didn’t bowl a single ball in the full-length area. He didn’t bowl any short-pitched balls either. He kept bowling in the good-length area, forcing the batters to manufacture shots rather than feeding them bad balls.
Jason Holder’s form
Jason Holder has had a roller-coaster career achieving highs and lows but never being a consistent white ball player. His credentials in the longest format are as good as any top player at the moment, but his repeated and consistent failures in the shorter formats are pulling back the West Indies.
When Holder arrived at the crease, the hosts needed to score at more than 10 RPO for 13 overs. Holder scored his runs at just above 8 RPO (25 off 19). He has been shuffled around the batting order in recent times to find his ideal position, but he hasn’t been able to nail any. Consistently bowling expensive overs isn’t working in his favour either. If Holder fails to put in a couple of noteworthy performances in the remaining matches, he might not be able to hold on to his position for the World Cup in October.
West Indies have had some disastrous days in limited overs format in recent times. Big players not contributing to the team’s cause has hurt them the most. For New Zealand, the return to form of their captain and impactful performances from mainstays is a positive sign. If the hosts don’t inspire themselves to perform to their potential, they might be staring at consecutive series defeats when the two teams meet again on 12th August.