PALLEKELE, Sri Lanka: Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels held their nerve in a one-over eliminator for West Indies to knock out New Zealand at the World Twenty20 yesterday.
Chasing 18 for victory, Gayle and Samuels both hit a six off Tim Southee as West Indies raced to 19-0 in five balls in the Super Eights match.
West Indies’ players ran onto the field and danced to celebrate their win straight after Samuels hit Southee for a six over midwicket for the winning runs.
New Zealand scored 17-0 in its Super Over, with captain Ross Taylor hitting a six and a four off Marlon Samuels’ offspin to go along with his 62 not out during the preceding 20 overs.
“Marlon Samuels is my ‘go to man’ in pressure situations. He’s suffering from a bad shoulder, so that’s why he doesn’t bowl more,” West Indies captain Darren Sammy said. “I think we’ll stay for a while after and watch the next game very closely.”
In the regulation game, New Zealand needed 14 off the last over after West Indies had been bowled out for 139.
Taylor scored 12 off Samuels’ first five deliveries before Doug Bracewell was run out by substitute fielder Dwayne Smith’s direct hit at the striker’s end on the last ball to also leave New Zealand on 139-7.
New Zealand also lost its first Group 1 match in a one-over eliminator, against Sri Lanka, and was beaten by England on Saturday.
“To score 18 off five balls is pretty awesome . . . that’s cricket and we’re going home now,” Taylor said. “We probably should have won it in normal time, but credit to West Indies.”
West Indies ended with four points from three matches, but has to wait for the outcome of the match between Sri Lanka and England later Monday to determine the semifinalists from the group.
Offspinner Sunil Narine turned the match on its head by giving away only three runs in the 19th over and getting rid of Nathan McCullum for 5 to finish with figures of 3-20.
Taylor held the innings together, but wickets were lost and the run rate mounted with Samuel Badree and Ravi Rampaul bowling decent spells. Badree took 1-18 and Rampaul 1-23.
Taylor hit three fours and as many sixes in his 40-ball knock, but Sammy maneuvered his bowlers well before pushing the match in one-over eliminator.
Earlier, Southee and Bracewell took three wickets each after Taylor won the toss and opted to field as West Indies was bowled out with three balls remaining.
The Kiwis struck at regular intervals after Gayle hit three fours and two sixes for a typically flamboyant 30 off 14 balls before being caught behind in the seventh over off Southee.
Bracewell removed Johnson Charles and pinch-hitter Andre Russell cheaply in his first spell and got rid of Kieron Pollard for 28 upon his return to finish with 3-31.
Offspinner Nathan McCullum ran through the middle order, removing Samuels for 24 and Darren Bravo for 16, before Southee polished off the tail to take 3-21.
West Indies looked set to post a competitive total after Gayle and Samuels put on 60 in the first six overs, all of them the batting powerplay, smashing Mills for 16 runs in one over and 17 from Jacob Oram at the other end.
But the innings derailed soon after Gayle’s departure, with Samuels being caught at long-on in the 11th over.
West Indies also missed the powerful hitting of Dwayne Bravo in the middle order after the batsman was ruled out of the match because of a groin injury, but in the end it mattered little for them.
West Indies knocks New Zealand out
West Indies knocks New Zealand out
Arsenal host Chelsea, looking to maintain lead in EPL
- “Well, I think one thing leads to another,” explained Gunners manager Mikel Arteta
- Rosenior said: “The Premier League is so difficult every week”
LONDON: Arsenal will look to move another step closer to their first Premier League title in 22 years Sunday when they host a Chelsea side managing its own improved run of form under new manager Liam Rosenior.
The Gunners (18-3-7, 61 points) maintained their five-point lead over Manchester City with an emphatic 4-1 win at Tottenham Hotspur last Sunday, though City still possess a match in hand.
Eberechi Eze and Viktor Gyokeres each had a brace as Arsenal pulled away following a first half that ended tied at 1-1.
The performance took Gyokeres to 10 league goals in his first English campaign after his move from Sporting Lisbon this summer. Five of those have come in the Sweden international’s last five league appearances.
“Well, I think one thing leads to another,” explained Gunners manager Mikel Arteta. “When you score the first one, the performance is good, you have more time with your teammates, you understand the games, the opponents, the league better, everything helps.”
The result stretched Arsenal’s winning run to five matches in the North London Derby and their unbeaten streak to eight. Against Chelsea, the Gunners have gone 10 unbeaten while winning seven in all competitions, including both legs of their EFL Cup semifinal in November and January.
But fifth-place Chelsea (12-6-9, 45 points) have looked improved under incoming manager Rosenior, even if the decision to replace Enzo Maresca caught most off guard.
The Blues have posted an 8-2-2 mark under his direction in all competitions, with those EFL Cup losses the only defeats. In the league, Chelsea have taken 14 points from six games, a pace that would see them above Arsenal if it were extended over the whole season.
Still, they begin three points behind Manchester United in the quest for the final UEFA Champions League spot next season. And it may get tougher from here, with Aston Villa, Newcastle and a round-of-16 UCL clash with Paris Saint-Germain looming.
Rosenior doesn’t see it that way.
“The Premier League is so difficult every week. Every week, the challenges that you face, the different tactical problems that you have, the physicality of the league, I don’t judge one game as harder than the other,” he said. “For me, I’m happy with this group, I’m happy with the start that we’ve made. We’ve won eight out of 12, it should be 10 out of 12. That’s not bad.”
Rosenior also confirmed captain Reece James will be available after the defensive midfielder sustained a minor injury in last weekend’s 1-1 draw against Burnley.
