WI vs NZ, World Cup warm-up match: Blundell ton in vain as Windies wins by 91 runs

West Indies vs New Zealand, World Cup 2019: Tom Blundell scored a hundred but New Zealand failed to chase down West Indies' massive target of 421.

Updated : Jun 20, 2019 12:25 IST

Key highlights of the warm-up match between West Indies and New Zealand at the Brightside Ground in Bristol.

◙ Ish Sodhi's cameo of 39 from 16 balls comes to an end as West Indies pulls off a 91-run win over New Zealand. Tom Blundell and Kane Williamson are the bright spots in New Zealand's chase. 

◙ As Ish Sodhi is having fun by playing the long handle, New Zealand has lost Matt Henry, stumped for 1. New Zealand 315/9 in 46 overs.

OUT. New Zealand losing wickets here as Brathwaite claims his third by getting rid of De Grandhomme for 23, caught at deep backward point by Fabian Allen. New Zealand 8 down and need 113 more to win off 30 balls.

OUT. Brathwaite and captain Holder plot Santner's fall. Just before the delivery, the square leg was placed, Braithwaite digs in short and Santner (19) pulls straight to Nurse at deep square leg. New Zealand 283/7 in 43 overs.

Blundell's gone! He gets out trying to play the scoop shot. Brathwaite sees it coming, bowls a slower ball well wide of the off stump and Blundell followed it and tried the scoop, but got no power at all and offered Hope an easy catch. New Zealand 261/6 after 40.2 overs

◙ And he's done it, 28-year-old Tom Blundell has hammered a marvellous century! He shared a fine partnership with Williamson and has stuck around long enough to bag a century and offer himself a chance ahead of the World Cup.

Interestingly, Blundell had scored a century on his test debut against West Indies at Wellington in 2017 and has repeated the feat today.

◙ Alright, we're down to the last 15 overs and New Zealand needs another 191 runs to win. Which essentially means the Kiwis have to score upwards of 12 runs an over. Blundell's presence does give the side a ray of hope and the onus is now on him to deliver.

OUT! Neesham charges down the pitch in an attempt to slam Nurse for a six, but he completely misses the ball. Hope has all the time in the world to whip off the bails and that's Nurses' first wicket. New Zealand 222/5 in 33.4 overs .

◙ Two hundred on the board for New Zealand. Blundell hits Holder for a boundary and the Kiwis now need 219 runs to win from 19 overs. NZ 203/4 in 31 overs

HUGE OVER FOR THE KIWIS! Blundell pummels Thomas for two huge sixes and a boundary and Neesham follows it with another boundary and the Kiwis get 23 runs from the over. New Zealand 191/4 after 29 overs; Blundell 69*, Neesham 4*

WICKET! A dreadful mix up between Williamson and Blundell costs the former's wicket. Blundell calls for three and Williamson, running to the danger end, takes off but develops cold feet midway and is run out by Hope. The Kiwis star batsman is pack in the pavilion and the side is now 153/4 in 26 overs .

◙ Williamson is lighting up the Brightside Ground with some classy strokeplay. He hits Nurse for successive fours to bring up New Zealand's 150.

◙ Ashley Nurse is introduced into the attack and the left-armer gives away six runs in his first over. The surface is excellent to bat on, but the run rate is climbing up from New Zealand batting at more than five per over while required is close to 12. New Zealand 127/3 in 24.2 overs.

◙ Williamson has upped his scoring rating. He punches one on the back foot to dispatch Allen for back to back boundaries.

◙ Hit on the head! Williamson scampers for another touch and go single. Kemar Roach at short cover throws it at the bowler's end and hits Williamson on the helmet. The umpire checks in on the batsman and calls for drinks. With a single off the last ball of the over, Williamson brings up his second fifty in as many matches. New Zealand 96/3 in 20 overs.

◙ SIX! Williamson brings up the fifty partnership with a sweet strike off Carlos Brathwaite which sails over the long-off boundary.

◙ Williamson cuts towards backward point and scrambles for a single. The throw comes in a second late and the Kiwi captain will keep the strike. New Zealand 78/3 in 18 overs.

◙ SIX! Williamson whacks the  first six of the New Zealand innings as he smashes Brathwaite over the square leg boundary. New Zealand 72/3 in 17 overs

New Zealand have put up 50 on the board, and is 61/3 for the loss of three wickets in 15 overs. Carlos Brathwaite has come into the attack, while Thomas continues to bowl from the other end. Williamson 21*, Tom Blundell 10*

◙ It's been a fantastic opening 10 overs from the West Indies pacers. Each of them - Cottrell, Roach and Thomas have impressed and picked up a wicket each.

THIRD WICKET! Oshane Thomas strikes in his first over and he gets rid of Taylor! Thomas bangs it in short and Taylor tries to get under it, but the ball bounces off his gloves and Bravo takes a sharp catch a gully. New Zealand down to 33/3 in 10 overs .

WICKET! Another wicket and it's Nicholls this time. Roach has him crammed for room with a fiery short ball and Nicholls goes for the pull shot, much like Guptill. The ball travels miles in the air and Holder takes a fine catch to claim West Indies' second wicket of the afternoon. New Zealand 28/2 after 6.2 overs. Ross Taylor is the new man in.

WICKET! Cottrell gets the better of Guptill and that's the first wicket. It's a shorter delivery and Guptill attempt the pull shot, but he's beaten by the extra bounce. The ball skies into the air and Bravo takes an easy catch. New Zealand 20/1 after 4.3 overs .

◙ Nicholls and Guptill bag a boundary each and are slowly settling in. Cottrell has looked impressive, producing a few dangerous inswinging deliveries here. New Zealand 14/0 after 3 overs .

◙ Right then, Cottrell bowls three wides in a nine-ball over and New Zealand is 3/0 after 1 over .

◙ It's all happening here in the opening over! Cottrell begins with two wides and then appears to have Guptill out LBW, but a review saves the Kiwi. The next delivery sees Russell dive to stop the ball and he seems to have injured his left wrist!

◙ We're back! Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls will open the innings for New Zealand, while Sheldon Cottrell has the ball.

Jeez, what a terrific batting display from West Indies. With Chris Gayle hammering the ball around from the first over to Nurse's unbeaten 21, each of their batsmen were simply ruthless. The pick of them all is of course Shai Hope, who struck a fantastic century. Lewis and Russel also chipped in with timely 50's and Kiwis now have a gargantuan task ahead of them.

ALL OUT! Roach skies the ball and Boult takes a terrific catch to finish with four wickets. So the West Indies has set New Zealand a target, a daunting target of 422.

◙ Seven runs come off the 49th over and West Indies have 420 on the board. Boult will bowl the last over.

OUT! Brathwaite has to go as he's caught by Williamson at extra cover. He chases the wide delivery and has a go at it, but simply doesn't get the timing right. West Indies is now down to its last wicket. WI 413/9 in 48.3 overs

◙ Successive boundaries from Nurse bring up West Indies' 400 and we have another three overs to go! He goes after Henry once again in the last ball of the over and is nearly caught on the ropes, but Boult can't hold on to the ball and it's a six. West Indies 406/8 in 47 overs .

OUT! Russell's innings comes to an end as he is bowled by Trent Boult. The fast bowler bowls a yorker; Russell digs it out but cannot prevent the ball from hitting the leg-stump and dislodging the right bail. Thanks to his blitzkrieg West Indies now eyes a total of at least 400. WI 379 for 8 in the 46th over.

◙ Russell is at his belligerent best as he unleashes his big hits to unsettle New Zealand. He is especially effective down the ground, muscling Santner and Ferguson, the fast bowler, for repeated boundaries and sixes, both of which are over long-on. He reaches his half-century off 23 deliveries.

Holder also joins the party, hitting Ferguson for back-to-back boundaries through the off-side before perishing in the next over to Matt Henry. Trying to slice Henry through point, he is caught by Ross Taylor inside the circle.

◙ Andre Russell muscles Santner for a mighty six towards midwicket. He goes down on one knee to give himself leverage and executes a fierce slog.

WICKET: A mix-up between the Windies captain and Nicholas Pooran and the latter is run out. Holder nudges Ferguson to leg and sprints hard to give himself a chance of coming back for the second. As he turned back for the second, his partner, at the other end, hesitated. By the time he set off, Holder was halfway down already. The throw from the deep was accurate enough; Pooran was well short of his crease. WI 285 for 6 in 38 overs.

◙ Holder gets an overpitched delivery from Santner and sweetly lofts him straight back down the ground for an imperious six.

Aaaaand, he's gone . Boult's knucke ball is all it takes to get rid of Hope. He's crammed for room and his lofted shot finds Williamson at mid-off. Hope departs after a well-made 101, and West Indies is now 267/5 in 35.4 overs.

Century for Shai Hope ! What a fine knock this has been. He walked in when West Indies was 59/1 and has been rock-solid since. He's pounced on the loose balls and the good balls alike and has hammered nine 4's and four 6's on his way to 100. Massive morale-booster for him and the West Indies side going into the World Cup. West Indies 267/4 after 35.2 overs; Hope 101*, Holder12*

◙ Henry is re-introduced into the attack and he goes for runs again, conceding 15 runs off his sixth over. He's been New Zealand's most expensive bowler so far, giving away 65 runs in 6 overs.

◙ What a shot that is! Hope stands tall and simply slams the ball past the bowler's head to move into the nineties. West Indies 251/4 after 32 overs .

WICKET! Hetmeyer has to go as he's caught in the deep by Boult. He got the desired connection and lofts it towards deep square leg, but it only goes as far as Boult. Santner picks up his first wicket, and West Indies is now 234/4 after 30.3 overs .

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◙ Haha, what an impact Mitchell Santner has made. He's come on and bowled the first maiden of the game! Hope has eased into the 70's, while Hetmeyer is settling in. West Indies 204/3 after 27 overs

OUT! A mix up between Hope and Bravo sees the latter run out. Bravo wanted the quick single and charged ahead but Hope had none of it. Henry Nicholls took his time and found the stumps with a direct hit to send Bravo packing. West Indies 191/3 after 24 overs

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FOUR! It's a slightly short-pitched delivery and Hope latches on to it to pull it for a boundary. Hope has moved into the 60's and West Indies have 165/2 after 21 overs .

◙ “I look at the West Indies side and I think that’s a very dangerous cricket team. Watch out for the West Indies,” says Australian great Allan Border . Do you agree with him?

OUT! Lewis gets to his 50 and departs three balls later. The shorter one does the trick as Lewis goes for the pull shot, but it lands kindly to Santner in the deep. West Indies 143/2 after 17.3 overs.

◙ Another new bowler, another expensive over. James Neesham comes into the attack and is hammered for 14 runs. Lewis and Hope have motored on and kept the scoreboard ticking rapidly. Oh and both are into the 40s now.

NOT OUT. Hope is struck on the pads and New Zealand review the decision. The ball appears to miss the stumps and the umpire's call stands, not out. Time for a much-needed drinks break, especially after all the ball-chasing the Kiwis have been subjected to! West Indies 125/1 after 15 overs, Lewis 44*, Hope 36*

◙ Another exquisite finish from Hope and another maximum to his name. He's not doing Colin de Grandhomme any favours here and he's taken apart for 11 runs in his first over. West Indies 110/1 after 13 overs, Lewis 34*, Hope 33*

◙ West Indies' greatest strength is its players who can seamlessly translate the T20 way of playing to the 50-over format, while the side has shown an inability to defend scores that suggests its bowling attack can crack under pressure. Here's what to expect from the side at the World Cup: SWOT analysis: Windies banks on firepower to go deep

◙ Making a statement here, is Shai Hope. After a quiet first six balls, he hammers Boult for two sixes and a four to steer West Indies to 91/1 at the end of 10 overs. Lewis 30*, Hope 19*

◙ Uh oh, there's a slight drizzle here and the skies appear to be darkening. It's the same story at Cardiff too, where India faces Bangladesh. Follow the IND vs BAN game live

GONER! Gayle tries to loft it past mid-off but can't get the clearance and plays it straight into Williamson's hands. Boult gets the breakthrough and Gayle departs for a quickfire 36. West Indies 59/1 after 7.2 overs

Jeez, what a hit! Ferguson offers Lewis plenty of width and he absolutely clobbers it for a blistering boundary. Both the openers are looking in terrific form so far.

◙ Evin Lewis joins the party with a six off a sublime pull and that brings up West Indies' 50. The Windies are scoring at a run-rate of 8.83! WI 53/0 after 6 overs, Gayle 36*, Lewis 14*

HUGE! Gayle launches one over square leg to bring up his third six of the match, while Matt Henry simply looks helpless. Gayle has taken apart Henry so far, and the Kiwi has conceded 40 runs in three overs!

◙ What a fantastic start the Windies have got off to! Chris Gayle has gone hammer and tongs and has raced to 25 runs off 13 deliveries, powering the West Indies to 33 runs in 4 overs .

TOSS UPDATE: New Zealand wins the toss and chooses to bowl.

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