New Zealand vs West Indies – a mouth watering series start that ended completely one-sided.

There were plenty of moments nevertheless. In the T20Is, we witnessed an Eden Park thriller, a Pollard special, the Conway-Phillips record-breaking partnership, while there was the Williamson double, Blackwood-Joseph’s resistance, and Jamieson’s brilliance to name a few during the Tests.

The Kiwis swept both the T20I and Test series with key contributions from multiple players, while the West Indies began the tour with high hopes, had some bright moments, but yet again, went down without a fight.

Same old story.

Anyway, without further ado, here is our review of both the T20I and Test series between New Zealand and the West Indies.

Also Read: What If Braithwaite’s Dream Was Not Diminished?

Results – New Zealand Vs West Indies

T20I Series: New Zealand Win 2 – 0

* Player of Match

1. NZ won by 5 wickets (D/L) – Lockie Ferguson*
2. NZ won by 72 runs – Glenn Phillips*
3. No Result

Player of Series	Lockie Ferguson (New Zealand)	West Indies
Most Runs	Glenn Phillips – 130 runs	Kieron Pollard – 103 runs
Most Wickets	Lockie Ferguson – 7 wickets	Oshane Thomas – 3 wickets

Test Series: New Zealand Win 2 – 0

1. NZ won by an innings and 134 runs – Kane Williamson*
2. NZ won by an innings and 12 runs – Kyle Jamieson*

Player of Series	Kyle Jamieson (New Zealand)	West Indies
Most Runs	Kane Williamson – 251 runs (1 inning)	Jermaine Blackwood – 216 runs (4 innings)
Most Wickets	Tim Southee – 12 wickets (4 innings)	Shannon Gabriel – 6 wickets (2 innings)

The Highlights

West Indies

T20Is

• Kieron Pollard continues his brilliant T20 form with a brilliant counterattacking 75* (37) with 8 sixes.
• Andre Fletcher is back – 34(14), 20(14), 4*(3). 31 balls – 5 sixes. Short but impactful – suits WI’s style.
• Hetmyer and Pooran needs to up their game in the international arena with another poor series.

Tests

• Jermaine Blackwood establishes himself at the #6 spot with another display of counterattacking batting. 104 with a battling 69 in the second Test as well. Good hand by Joseph in the 155 partnership as well.
• Roston Chase, once the driver of the engine room, now a liability? Struggling with batting form.
• Joshua De Silva and Chemar Holder provided glimpses of West Indies’ future with debuts. The former with a maiden half century and the latter with the smooth bowling action

New Zealand

T20Is

• Devon Conway gets a chance & makes it count – 41 (29), 65*(37). Great story this after domestic toil and leaving South Africa.
• Glenn Phillips cements his place with a brilliant 108, Ross Taylor loses his. End of Taylor in T20Is?
• Lockie Ferguson may be the most impactful T20 bowler at the moment. Just trace back to the 1st T20I – WI 58-0 in 3.1 overs. Enter Ferguson. 12 balls later, West Indies 5-59. Ferguson ends with 5-21.

Tests

• Kane Williamson shows his class with personal best 251.
• Tom Latham and Nicholls show why they are an important cogs of the Kiwi line-up.
• In Tests, Tim Southee is just as good as anyone. Southee-Boult-Wagner-Jamieson, devastating fast bowling line up.

We like to spice things up with our own awards for the series. Here they are:

	New Zealand	West Indies
Emerging Player	Devon Conway	Joshua De Silva
Surprise Package	Kyle Jamieson	Jermaine Blackwood
Broken Cricket Dream	Ross Taylor	Roston Chase

Who would have been your Emerging Player? Surprise Player? Broken Cricket Dream? Let us know below WITH COMMENTS! Also please subscribe!

Where Do They Go From Here?

New Zealand

New Zealand are as close to the #1 Test rankings as ever before (tied at the top is a common Kiwi occurrence it seems). They are also challenging India for the spot in the World Test Championship Final.

The 2010 generation of Guptill-Williamson-Taylor-Watling-Boult-Southee will have to end some day but with Conway-Phillips-Seifert-Jamieson and even Will Young (debut)/Ravindra (NZ A), New Zealand are not going anywhere.

West Indies

A few weeks ago, we predicted West Indies winning the series 2-1, but it looks like West indies are not even winning in T20Is these days.

T20 cricket is not a worry for the West Indies. Yes the Windies are currently sitting at #10, but their style of playing still works in T20 cricket. Given their best fit line up (Andre Russell, cough cough), they are still contenders to defend their T20I World Cup.

For Test matches, it is just another story. Post-COVID, the win against England gave me hope, especially with Gabriel-Roach-Holder-Joseph, but check this out:

• 32.4, 25.89, 36.47, 28.13, 29.2, 32.52, 32.04, 29.07
• 38.37, 29.73, 35.91, 31.17, 36.57, 33.57, 26.18, 33.31

These are the Tests and first-class averages of the Top 7 who represented the West Indies in the second Test match (+ Shane Dowrich at the end).

Ian Bishop was right. The West Indies are not going to win with these first class averages.

Anyway, was this tour just a minor setback or a sunset for West Indies cricket? Only time will tell.

Image Courtesy: Pixabay