Brathwaite heroics in vain as Kiwis clinch thriller

It was heartbreak for the Windies as they came really close to snatching an improbable victory due to a Carlos Brathwaite century as they lost by five runs in their ICC World Cup group stage match at Manchester on Saturday.

With six needed off seven balls, Brathwaite went for hero but was left crestfallen on his knees as Trent Boult took an excellent catch at long on to a hit that could have gone for six otherwise and it was all over.

This is now three close games that the Kiwis have now won in the World Cup.

Their first one was against Bangladesh, the second was against South Africa and now this, all of which, they’ve managed to win.

1st Innings

After winning the toss, Windies decided to field first and got off to an excellent start thanks to Sheldon Cottrell as the Kiwi openers - Martin Guptill and Colin Munro - were back in the hut without scoring.

From there, captain cool and centurion from the previous game against South Africa, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor started a big rebuild.

They soon started to play their shots in a bid to up the ante and formed a 160-run partnership to bring the Kiwis back in front as both players reached their fifties.

Captain Jason Holder then brought in Chris Gayle and his part-time off-spin finally did the trick as he took the wicket of Taylor, who scored 69.

Tom Latham then joined Williamson and took the score past 200 before Cottrell then dismissed Latham to have his third wicket.

On the other end, Williamson batted beautifully to bring up his second consecutive World Cup century and took the score past 250 in the 47th over, before he was finally dismissed by Cottrell, who had four wickets.

Williamson scored 148 off 154 balls in an innings that had 14 fours and one six.

James Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme and Mitchell Santner then played some quick knocks to take the score to a challenging 291/8 off 50 overs.  

2nd Innings

In reply, Windies lost the wicket of Shai Hope early after he scored just one run, bowled by Boult.

Boult soon took his second wicket to peg the Windies back as he dismissed Nicholas Pooran with the score on 20/2.

Much like the Kiwis, the Windies then had a big third wicket partnership.

Gayle and Shimron Hetmyer formed a 122-run partnership as both players brought up their half-centuries to bring the Windies back into the game.

But then Lockie Ferguson came in and took the wicket of Hetmyer, who tried to play an expansive shot, only to miss the ball and be bowled for 54.

Ferguson had two wickets in two balls as he got rid of the in-form captain, Jason Holder in the very next delivery.

Windies then started to collapse as Gayle - after scoring an 84 ball 87 - Ashley Nurse and Evin Lewis all got dismissed for 12 runs.

Windies, who were at one stage 142/1, were staring down the barrel at 164/7.

But Brathwaite started to find the middle of his bat and he found able partners in Kemar Roach (14) and Sheldon Cottrel (15), before they were dismissed.

At 245/9, and with Oshane Thomas the new man in, it was up to Brathwaite to make sure he took the strike and scored the runs and he did so for the first three overs - the 46th to the 48th - with aplomb.

The game started to favor the Windies when Brathwaite took 25 runs off the 48th over by Matt Henry, the joint most expensive over this World Cup.

The big-hitting right-hander even managed to take a single off the last ball to retain strike.

In came Neesham to bowl the next over, and with a barrage of bouncers on the offside, had Brathwaite beaten before he finally managed two runs in the fourth ball to score a maiden ODI century.

The fifth ball was another slower bouncer which Brathwaite missed.

And in the final ball of the over, Neesham had his wicket and the game was won by the Kiwis.

Points Table

The win takes New Zealand back to the top of the table with 11 points from six games and they have virtually guaranteed qualification for the semis.

Windies have almost been knocked out, but if England lose all their games and stay on eight points, and Windies win their remaining three and go to nine points, they can still qualify, if other teams fail to get as many points.

Key Stats   

Kane Williamson’s century brings him up to fifth spot in the top run scorers list this tournament with 373 runs.

David Warner leads the way with 447 runs followed closely by Shakib Al Hasan with 425 and Joe Root on 424 runs.

Lockie Ferguson’s three wickets brings him up to third spot in the top wicket-takers list this tournament with 14 wickets. Jofra Archer and Mitchell Starc lead the way with 15 wickets each.