west indies concluded its home ODI series against new zealand on a high note, securing a thrilling two-wicket win in the fifth and final ODI at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, Barbados. In the day-night encounter, the Caribbean team successfully chased the target of 269 runs and reached 269/8 in 47.3 overs. The win demonstrated tactical flexibility, disciplined bowling and strong batting under pressure.
West Indies’ disciplined bowling attack restricted New Zealand to a strong score
Winning the toss and electing to bowl first, the West Indies attack produced a disciplined performance to keep the Black Caps’ run rate in check throughout the 50 overs. Matthew Forde The opener was clean bowled at the beginning of the fifth over. henry nichols Just for 10 runs to set a vocal tone.
New Zealand rebuild through strong partnership for the second wicket Will Young And nick kellyWho together added 86 runs. Young completed an easy half-century (56 off 63 balls) before falling. vital law. Kelly made the highest score of 64 runs in the middle overs with the help of four fours and three sixes in 80 balls. gudakesh pearl Broke the dynamic stand.
Despite the middle order faltering, the experienced wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Latham Stabilized the innings with the captain’s innings. Latham scored 69 runs in 71 balls and hit the ball 10 times with one six. However, Alzarri JosephK’s tight spells (2/38 in 10 overs) and Moti’s economical turn (1/49) limited the pace in the late overs. Supported by tight fielding which saw two key run-outs including the captain’s michel santner Giving away 13 runs, West Indies restricted New Zealand to 268/9 in the stipulated 50 overs.
Thanks to the brilliant performance of Shimron Hetmyer, West Indies defeated New Zealand in the fifth ODI.
Chasing 269 runs to win, West Indies got off to an explosive start during the Powerplay 1. opener akeem auguste (24 of 34) and Justin Greaves (22 off 15) broke the initial attack and scored 50 runs in just 5.3 overs. However, quick strike nathan smith And jacob duffy The hosts were reduced to 59/2.
captain shy hope (39 out of 52) and kisi karti (20 out of 54) then steadied the ship by making a 59-run partnership. left arm spinner jaden lennox Proving dangerous for New Zealand, he removed both set batsmen on his way to extraordinary figures of 3/35 in 9 overs.
At 123/4, the chase shifted into high gear with the arrival of Sherfane Rutherford And Hetmyer. Both of them exerted tremendous power in the middle overs and made an important partnership of 95 runs for the fifth wicket. Rutherford played a quick inning of 61 runs with the help of five skyscraper sixes in 58 balls before falling. Michael Bracewell In the 41st over. Hetmyer’s unbeaten 69 off 64 balls included 9 fours and 2 sixes, leading the chase after a last order collapse where West Indies lost 3 wickets for only 9 runs. When Duffy (3/67) started a late-order upset by removing Ford and Alzarri Joseph The pressure increased on the hosts to 248/8 on consecutive balls. Hetmyer maintained his composure while remaining calm under fire jaden seals (5 out of 7*). Hetmyer scored the winning run with 15 balls remaining and remained unbeaten on 69, giving West Indies a memorable victory by two wickets.
New Zealand won the 5 match ODI series 3-2#WIvNZ #WestIndiesCricketTeam #newzealandcricket pic.twitter.com/eArppN3Vix
– CricketTimes.com (@CricketTimesHQ) 22 July 2026
Also read: Jaden Lennox shines, New Zealand beats West Indies in the third ODI
