West Indies beat New Zealand to reach Super 8s
Rutherford stars as West Indies beat New Zealand to reach Super 8s
- Published
Sherfane Rutherford hit a sublime unbeaten 68 as West Indies fought back to beat New Zealand by 13 runs to book their place in the T20 World Cup Super 8s.
The co-hosts were in trouble at 22-4 when Rutherford came to the crease and continued to struggle for much of the innings, slumping to 30-5 and 76-7.
But Rutherford kept his cool and timed his onslaught to perfection as he took 37 from the last two overs of the innings to lift West Indies to 149-9 in Trinidad.
That proved to be more than enough on a two-paced surface as New Zealand fell away in the middle overs of the chase.
Fast bowler Alzarri Joseph took 4-19 and left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie 3-25 as the Black Caps, after some late hitting from Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner, ended on 136-9.
While West Indies can look forward to the next stage of a home tournament, back-to-back defeats leave New Zealand's qualification hopes hanging by a thread.
They must now beat Uganda and Papua New Guinea in their remaining games and hope other results go their way.
They will be eliminated before they play again if Afghanistan beat Papua New Guinea on Friday (01:30 BST).
- Published18 June
- Published29 June
Rutherford treats capacity crowd in Trinidad
Prior to the match the atmosphere at the Brian Lara Academy was one of excitement and anticipation after two victories to start the tournament for West Indies.
Six overs later, it had all fallen rather flat as the order was dismantled by New Zealand's high class and highly experienced new-ball attack, led by Trent Boult.
In the next 12 overs the locals were stirred occasionally but, whenever West Indies appeared to be gaining momentum, a wicket fell.
Rutherford had scored only 20 after facing 21 balls but, having seen his team-mates come in, hit a boundary or two and swiftly get out, he knew he had to bide his time.
It was only when the ninth wicket went down that he really let loose, justifying his decision to turn down a single from the first ball of the 19th over by hitting three of the next four for six.
Two fours and another maximum off Santner followed in the last and, from hoping to claw their way to 120, West Indies had surged to within touching distance of 150.
It was much more of a team effort with the ball but Joseph and Motie claimed the key wickets.
Joseph removed Finn Allen after the opener's quick start before Motie did for Kane Williamson and Rachin Ravindra in his first two overs.
He then bowled Daryl Mitchell with a beauty in his third to put West Indies firmly on top.
Phillips briefly threatened to provide the game with another twist, but Joseph put an end to that as West Indies closed on the win.
As Santner clubbed three sixes in the last over, sharply reducing the margin of victory, the value of Rutherford's knock was made all the clearer.
'It is only the start of something' - reaction
Player of the match Sherfane Rutherford: "I was telling myself to take it deep and keep rotating the strike. I knew if I started to feel the momentum I could always make up at the end.
"It is only the start of something big to come and hopefully we can keep winning and the momentum going."
West Indies captain Rovman Powell: "We knew someone would have to play a blinder. We knew it wouldn't be an easy wicket because of the inclement weather that we've had.
"We believe individual brilliance is needed in T20 cricket sometimes and it was a fantastic knock from Sherfane Rutherford."
New Zealand captain Kane Williamson: "We had an inkling it was going to be quite tough and that proved to be the case. You've got to find a way and the difference can be an over or two.
"Sherfane Rutherford's innings was of the highest quality. It was incredibly impressive and frustrating for us."
