BRISTOL, England – Shai Hope struck another classy hundred, while Andre Russell and Evin Lewis lashed half-centuries, as West Indies flexed their muscle to brush aside New Zealand by 91 runs in their final official World Cup warm-up match on Tuesday.
Sent in to bat, West Indies amassed a mammoth 421 off 49.2 overs, with Hope stroking a better than run-a-ball 101, Russell blasting a 25-ball 54 and Lewis gathering exactly 50 off 54 balls at the top of the order, as the West Indies found precious momentum ahead of their World Cup opener against Pakistan on Friday.
There were several cameos along the way, as captain Jason Holder smashed 47 from 32 balls, veteran Chris Gayle carved out 36 from 22 deliveries and Shimron Hetmyer gathered 27 from 24 balls on a true Bristol County Ground pitch.
For West Indies, the performance was much needed especially after their batsmen did not perform up to their own expectations in an unofficial warm-up against Australia last week in Southampton, and rain then allowed just 76 balls to be played in their first official warm-up against South Africa last Sunday.
Though the warm-up matches are not accorded ODI status by the ICC, the total surpassed the Caribbean side’s ODI best of 389 made against England earlier this year in the Caribbean and against a New Zealand side who started redefining 50-over cricket prior to the 2015 ICC World Cup.
Seamer, Carlos Brathwaite proved expensive, but he was the best bowler with 3-75 from his nine overs and left-arm spinner Fabian Allen supported with 2-47, as New Zealand were bowled out for 330 in the 48th over.
The Windies pacers made early inroads into the New Zealanders’ batting, reducing them to 33 for three in the 10th over, but the Black Caps got a magnificent counter-attacking 106 off 89 balls from wicketkeeper Tom Blundell and captain Kane Williamson stroked 85 from 64 deliveries to pressurise the West Indies bowling attack.
Source: CMC/CWI Media
Related Players
- Fabian Allen
- Darren Bravo
- Carlos Brathwaite
- Sheldon Cottrell
- Chris Gayle
- Shimron Hetmyer
- Jason Holder
- Shai Hope
- Evin Lewis
- Ashley Nurse
- Nicholas Pooran
- Kemar Roach
- Andre Russell
- Oshane Thomas
