The Report by Nikhil Kalro
The early bird often gets the worm, but there is an equally good chance of nocturnal birds catching it. There are also significantly different approaches to ODI cricket. New Zealand are a disciplined team, insistent on doing the basics right. West Indies rely on their strength: a batting approach that revolves around attempting to find the boundary more often than gaps through the field. The longer the duration of a game, the better the chances of discipline trumping aggression.
West Indies weren’t able to sustain their approach for long enough, but New Zealand did as they limited the visitors to 248 for 9, and then chased it down clinically in the first ODI in Whangarei.
Doug Bracewell, on his return to international cricket after pleading guilty to a drink-driving offence, picked up 4 for 55 from eight overs, and leg spinning ODI debutant Todd Astle finished with 3 for 33. New Zealand’s openers, George Worker and Colin Munro then blazed away with a 108-run stand off just 100 balls to effectively kill the game on a surface that got progressively better to bat on.
Summarized scores; New Zealand 249 for 5 (Worker 57, Taylor 49*, Munro 49) beat West Indies 248 for 9 (Evin Lewis 76, Rovman Powell 59, Bracewell 4-55, Astle 3-33) by five wickets