Sherfane Rutherford smashed a career-best unbeaten half-century before pacer Alzarri Joseph and left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie broke through the New Zealand line-up to take the West Indies to the Super Eight stage of the T20 World Cup with a 13-match victory races in Tarouba. Rutherford came up with the innings of his life, hitting half a dozen sixes and two fours in his 68 off 39 balls to lift West Indies to 149 from 9 from 76 for 7 in 12.3 overs after New Zealand opted to bowl in a virtual knock. out of the Group C game.
In response, the West Indies restricted the Kiwis to 136 for 9, with Rutherford’s fellow Guyanese Motie returning with splendid figures of 3/25. Joseph increased the pressure on the order to become destroyer-in-chief with his 4/19.
With three consecutive wins, the tournament co-hosts qualified for the Super Eight stage, while New Zealand’s hopes were all but over after consecutive defeats.
They had previously lost to Afghanistan by 84 runs after being bowled out for 75. The 2021 runners-up, one of the most consistent teams at World Cups, were found wanting this time.
They reached the semi-finals in the 2015, 2019 and 2023 editions of the ODI World Cup, and in 2016, 2021 and 2022, the Black Caps secured a semi-final appearance at the T20 World Cups.
It was half past midnight in Trinidad, but the locals erupted with joy as they celebrated their team’s qualification for the Super Eight, erasing the disappointment of successive setbacks in the big event.
The former two-time champions were eliminated at the Super-12 stage of the competition in the United Arab Emirates in 2021, while in 2022 in Australia, they failed to complete the tournament and were eliminated in the group stage.
“It was fantastic. I was sitting there with Nicholas (Pooran) and it was such a beautiful night for someone to stand up and be counted,” said captain Rovman Powell.
“Those innings (from Rutherford) gave us confidence and belief. We looked at what they did well and tried to replicate it.” “It’s a tick in the box, but it’s just the beginning of something big to come. Hopefully we can continue the momentum,” Rutherford said of the Super Eight production.
Willilamson made three changes to the line-up beaten convincingly by Afghanistan and the intention was clear when Trent Boult dismissed Johnson Charles (0) in the first over, forcing the opener to hit the stumps.
The Kiwi left-arm pacer finished with splendid figures of 4-1-16-3.
Nicholas Pooran lucked into three quick boundaries to become West Indies’ highest T20I run-getter, surpassing Chris Gayle.
But New Zealand took the ascendancy, forcing Pooran (17) and then Roston Chase (0) both at the top edge straight to the catchers in successive overs. Skipper Rovman Powell’s wicket capped a dominant powerplay for the Kiwis – 23/4 at the six-over mark – with pacer Tim Southee (2/21) taking two of the scalps.
There was more misery in store as opener Brandon King was dismissed by James Neesham (1/27) and half the West Indies team was back on the bench in the seventh over.
But Rutherford had other ideas and played one of the best innings of his career.
The 25-year-old Guyanese all-rounder held on before piling on the pressure in the final five overs, hitting five fours and two sixes. Rutherford made 50 off the final ball of the 19th over and hit 18 runs in all, leaving Mitchell Santner stumped.
Rutherford scored all 37 runs in the final partnership with Motie, which became a new 10th wicket record in ICC T20 World Cup history.
In response, New Zealand started poorly and lost both openers – Devon Conway (5) and Finn Allen (26) – in the powerplay.
Thereafter, left-arm spinner Motie bamboozled the Kiwi batsmen, finishing with a game-changing spell of 4-0-25-3, before Joseph turned on the heat with his four-wicket haul.
Motie dismissed Rachin Ravindra after he ended up passing straight to Russell at mid-wicket.
He bowled shorter and induced a slight edge in Williamson, who tried to cut it. The ball went straight into Pooran’s hands.
Glenn Phillips kept the Kiwis’ hopes alive with his 33-ball 40 before being dismissed by Joseph.
New Zealand needed 33 runs from the over and Mitchell Santner hit three sixes off the first four balls but ultimately failed.
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