New Zealand 189 for 9 (Chapman 80, Santner 34*, Motie 5-47) beat West Indies 188 all out (Jangoo 51, Motie 41, Fisher 3-40) by 1 wicket
West Indies’ narrow one-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the 4th One Day International at Kensington Oval on Sunday has made the Caribbean side's improbable task of avoiding the ICC Qualifying tournament even more difficult.
Windies gave a valiant attempt at defending 188, which made for a far more enthralling contest than the FIFA World Cup Final, which was being played in New York at the same time.
A win would have given the West Indies important points to keep alive their hopes of a direct spot at the 2027 ICC ODI World Cup to be co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe, and Namibia.
After Gudakesh Motie kept the hosts in the contest by completing his maiden five-wicket haul (5 for 47), Jayden Seales produced the wicket-taking delivery needed to secure the win when he had Black Caps captain Mitchell Santner slicing the ball in the air with three runs required for victory.
However, there was no communication from Ackeem Auguste coming in off the boundary and Justin Greaves running back from the inner circle, resulting in the clash of bodies, a spilt catch, and a series loss.
