Posted by Gareth Parry Added on: July 17 2012
West Indies 136 for 1 (Smith 65*, Gayle 63*) beat New Zealand 190 for 9 (Watling 60, Russell 4-45, Narine 2-26) by nine wickets (by D/L method)
After a convincing series win in the T20's; the West Indies were looking for their first ODI series win against top Test level opposition in more than four years. Another highlight of the series was the inclusion of Gayle in the ODI side for his first home series since his return.
They opened with a win after dismissing New Zealand for just 190. Andre Russell, who finished with figures of 10-0-45-4, and Sunil Narine, whose figures were 10-2-26-2, were the main architects of the visitors downfall when they batted. Russell was particularly good with the new ball whilst Narine carried his excellent form for the Twenty20's into the ODI arena.
The only contributions of note from the batting side came from Bradly-John Watling and Jacob Oram. Watling top scored with 60 runs and batted with freedom as he demonstrated the array of dabs and sweeps at his disposal.
The West Indian chase was a straightforward affair with the innings reduced to just 33 overs due to rain. The only blemish was the fall of Lendl Simmons in the 3rd over for 0. This brought Smith to the crease who joined Gayle and the pair put on 130 to chase down the target in just 24.2 overs. Both men scored half centuries and looked in imposing form as the home side cruised to victory to take a one nil lead in the series.
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