Lennox stars again as New Zealand take series lead after West Indies collapse

West Indies suffered another batting collapse against New Zealand’s spinners in Guyana as the visitors took a 2-1 lead in the ODI series with a six-wicket victory, although Vitel Lawes continued his impressive start to international cricket to ensure they had to work for it in the chase. Jayden Lennox followed his five-wicket haul in the second match with 4 for 52 – meaning he equaled the most wickets for a New Zealand spinner in a bilateral ODI series – as West Indies lost 6 for 19, to fall from 121 for 3 to 140 for 9, which brought the end of their innings after John Campbell had been forced to retire hurt with what appeared a hamstring injury. An unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 52 between Tom Latham and Dean Foxcroft then ensured New Zealand overcame a wobble to ease across the line.

On the same pitch that was used for the opening game of the series, batting was rarely a simple prospect even if the turn on offer wasn’t quite as lavish off the surface for the previous match. Will Young and Henry Nicholls played carefully through the powerplay, the latter left grateful for the DRS on two occasions when given lbw against Gudakesh Motie and Alzarri Joseph. But Lawes’ introduction put a different complexion on the chase when he skidded one through to take Nicholls’ off stump with his second delivery. Mark Chapman was then beaten on the inside edge as he played forward to fall lbw and Young drove a wide delivery to cover to leave New Zealand 77 for 3. Although Lawes still served up the occasional loose delivery – understandable for a 19-year-old in his third professional game – his control has improved markedly even in the short space of time of this series. The game felt even more in the balance when Daryl Mitchell was beaten by Khary Pierre but the pressure was eased when Lawes returned for his eight over and two full tosses were cashed in on by Latham and Foxcroft. However, had West Indies reviewed for lbw against Foxcroft when he had 9, Lawes would have had a fourth wicket in his final over with 33 still needed. The umpire gave it as a run, and Foxcroft was down the pitch, but replays confirmed there was no edge and ball-tracking projected it hitting half way up leg stump. From there, New Zealand did not have too many further problems in finishing the job.

Vitel Lawes again made an impact with the ball [Cricinfo]

West Indies were twice handily placed with the bat before it all fell apart in an almost action-replay of the previous game. Campbell had retired hurt in the sixth over after he collapsed on the ground having sprinted through for a single and was stretchered off, then Ackeem Auguste gave away a promising start when he was brilliantly held by Mitchell Santner running back from mid-off. However, the hosts were 67 for 1 in the 17th over when Shai Hope was beaten by Lennox’s arm ball for the second game in a row. Three overs later, Sherfane Rutherford top edged a reverse sweep to deep point. Keacy Carty worked hard to give himself a base and alongside the recalled Shimron Hetmyer, playing his first ODI since last June, took West Indies to 121 for 3 with Hetmyer having twice cleared the leg side against Lennox. Hetmyer’s inclusion after MLC had been so rushed that his kit hadn’t arrived. The collapse started when Carty was beaten by a delivery from Michael Bracewell which turned to take the back pad for an lbw and Hetmyer, trying to hit a third six, picked out deep square leg in Bracewell’s next over to expose the lower order. Lennox produced a couple of excellent deliveries to bowl Motie and Joseph – particularly the arm ball that curved past Motie’s outside edge – as he turned figures of 1 for 49 after eight overs into 4 for 52 from his 10 with West Indies’ last six wickets falling in 51 balls. They will now need to win both matches in Barbados to claim the series. Scores: New Zealand 141 for 4 in 39.3 overs (Tom Latham 31*;Vitel Lawes 3-39) beat West Indies 140 in 37.1 overs (Keacy Carty 48; Jayden Lennox 4-52) by six wickets [Cricinfo]