New Zealand Knocked Out

Source: cricinfo.com

• West Indies 139 (Gayle 30, Southee 3-21, Bracewell 3-31) tied with New Zealand 139 for 7 (Taylor 62*, Samuels 3-20). West Indies won the Super Over.

New Zealand won the toss and elected to field. West Indies was all out for 139 runs, led by Chris Gayle’s 30, with three balls remaining in its 20 overs in Pallekelle.

New Zealand and West Indies tied on 139 runs after their innings and moved to a ‘super over’ to decide their final eight match at cricket’s World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka.

Sunil Narine was 3-20, helping restrict the Kiwis, but his misfield of a shot in the final over allowed Ross Taylor to score an extra run and retain the strike. Taylor’s 62 runs led New Zealand to 139-7 at the end of its 20 overs.

It was a close game, as New Zealand batted first in the super over and made 17.
When they started bowling they were in trouble after the first ball being a No-ball, which means they were given a free hit.
After Chris Gayle hit a 6 in the first bowl, West Indies were happy and had hope that they will win.

There was no way New Zealand should have lost this, though. Not in regulation time, not in extra time. It was a day for heroes and villains, and they were often the same men. The same Tim Southee that foxed Chris Gayle and went for 3 for 21 in regulation time failed to defend 16 runs in the Super Over. The same Sunil Narine who bowled overs 17 and 19 for five runs and two wickets to keep the match alive fielded appallingly, most noticeably in the final over, allowing Ross Taylor to retain the strike, and force the tie.

Let's start with the early heroes then. Gayle was the first one, racing to 30 off 13, taking West Indies to 60 inside the Powerplay. Taylor then made his first good move, an admission that he had erred in the previous game. Doug Bracewell, who was bowled only after the match was practically lost against England, got the new ball, and got Johnson Charles and the promoted Andre Russell out in his first two overs.

For Southee, life was full of possibilities at this time. To the marauding Gayle he rolled his fingers on a short-of-a-length delivery, getting it to cut away, squaring Gayle up, taking the edge that kicked off wild celebrations, which have become the norm whenever teams dismiss Gayle before he has beaten them into submission.

But for New Zealand it’s all over and unfortunately they have to go home and prepare themselves for their next series.

The Votes:
MVP: 3- S Narine, 2- R Taylor, 1- T Southee (bowled well in regular innings)
Tucker Trophy: 1- K Mills (hit out of attack), 2- M Samuels (bowled a poor super over), 3- T Southee (bowled an even worse super over, his second of the tournament)