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New Zealand's incredible home form continued with 2-0 drubbings in the T20Is and the Test series that followed. Victory in the latter sees them climb to No.1 in the ICC Test Rankings.
New Zealand have also secured a full 120 points from the series win, which makes them the second team after India to reach 300 points in the ICC World Test Championship (WTC). Moving up to third place in the ICC WTC points table, New Zealand have strengthened their chances of playing another World Championship Final at Lord’s.
Day 4 began gloomily with a 20-minute delayed start. However, it took New Zealand just eight balls to set the tone as Tim Southee beat Jason Holder’s bat to end the 82-run seventh-wicket stand.
Alzarri Joseph, who surprised audiences with a second-innings 86 at Hamilton, hammered two sixes and three fours during his short stay. Southee ruled out any hopes of a miraculous West Indian comeback by cleaning up Joseph for a 12-ball 24.
Debutant Joshua da Silva continued with his resistance, impressing with a fifty. He looked solid in defence, and made the scoring opportunities count. The 22-year-old's stay at the crease was ended by Neil Wagner, who trapped him in front. Da Silva reviewed, only to lose it.
Another debutant, Chemar Holder, struck three successive boundaries off Daryl Mitchell. However, Wagner quashed West Indies’ hopes of making New Zealand bat again by sealing the series with a yorker off the first ball in the following over, the 80th of the innings.
Earlier, invited to bat, New Zealand put up 460 on the board. Their batting armoury didn’t miss their regular skipper Kane Williamson, who opted out of the Test to be with his partner in Tauranga for the birth of their first child.
Henry Nicholls led the charge by batting for over seven hours to craft a sound 174 before Southee and Kyle Jamieson tore apart the visitors with five-fors each, ensuring a 329-run first innings lead.
The other highlight of the first innings was Wagner’s blitz with the bat. He belted his maiden Test fifty with a 42-ball 66 not out, an innings that consisted of four sixes and eight fours.
Following on, West Indies presented a better batting show in the second innings, but it wasn’t good enough to prevent an innings defeat.
With the conditions, and now, momentum on their side, the Kiwis will look forward to pouncing on the visiting Pakistan team too.
Brief scores
New Zealand 460 (Will Young 43, Henry Nicholls 174, Daryl Mitchell 42, Neil Wagner 66*; Shannon Gabriel 3 for 93, Alzarri Joseph 3 for 109) beat West Indies 131 (Jermaine Blackwood 69; Tim Southee 5 for 32, Kyle Jamieson 5 for 34) & 317 (John Campbell 68, Jason Holder 61, Joshua Da Silva 57; Trent Boult 3 for 96, Neil Wagner 3 for 54) by an innings and 12 runs
Player of the Match: Henry Nicholls
Player of the Series: Kyle Jamieson
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