Duffy and Ajaz seal 2-0 series win for New Zealand as West Indies capitulate horribly from 87/0 to 138 all-out.
Duffy and Ajaz rip through West Indies as New Zealand seal series 2-0.
Was it too long for New Zealand to make a declaration? Was batting in the fourth innings as difficult as predicted due to the pitch’s breakup? Was this the last home Test for Kane Williamson?
As an engaging series drifted into its last day and eventually faded in the wake of a West Indies collapse, doubt pervaded the atmosphere. After the morning drinks break, eight wickets were taken for 25 runs, with Jacob Duffy (5 for 42) surpassing Sir Richard Hadlee’s record for the Black Caps’ most wickets in a calendar year and displacing Trent Boult as the player with the most damage in a single home series.
Shai Hope was a prime example of the West Indies’ mindset as they went from 87 for 0 to 112 for 8 to 138 all out. He was out to a full toss without playing a shot on 3 off 78.
Ajaz Patel was producing 15.8 degrees of turn while frequently being unimportant to the team’s needs at home. Hope believed he was safe against a ball that was delivered from much outside the crease in part because of this. Since Ajaz was looping it up at about 70 kph throughout the game, the cross wind got hold of it as he had intended, and it crashed into the right-hander’s front toe. Normally, it might have pitched harmlessly and spun away harmlessly.
After an ambitious half-century by Brandon King, the West Indies’ scorecard saw eight consecutive single-digit scores, including Roston Chase’s 5 off 26. With 42 runs at an average of 7, the captain concludes the tour. Even if he had been in form, he might not have been able to defend himself because an accurate bowler’s severe bounce off a length caused his wicket, which was caught fending at second slip.
Duffy was New Zealand’s ideal weapon. They had only been aware of him in August, and now, four months later, he has more than twice as many wickets as his closest rival in this series (23 vs. 10).