NZ Create History at Eden Park

New Zealand has beaten the West Indies 3-0, by virtue of the first ever bowl off in international cricket history in the Twenty20 clash between the two sides this evening at Eden Park in Auckland.

Both sides ended up on 126 after their 20 overs, Shane Bond hitting a four off the last ball of New Zealand’s innings to bring the scores level and send the match into a bowl off.

Earlier in the evening the West Indies were sent in and started poorly. Shane Bond was all over them and they never really recovered. Darren Ganga made 26 off 32 and others chipped in around him, but their final total of 126 for 7 looked well below par.

New Zealand, however, tried their hardest to throw the game away after making a decent start in their chase. Lou Vincent made 42 but got little support from players around him. It was left to Shane Bond and James Franklin to hit 17 off the last over. Bond opened up and hit the last ball of the twentieth over for four over cover to send the match to the first ever International bowl off.

The bowl off itself was a farce, with a total of only three attempts out of seventeen from either team hitting the stumps. The first twelve deliveries failed to hit the target, and it wasn’t until Shane Bond hit the timber with both of his efforts that the crowd had something to cheer about. The Windies had a shocker, with none of their eight attempts hitting the target. Scott Styris, (New Zealand’s fifth option in the bowl off), ended the match by hitting the stumps with his first attempt, giving New Zealand an unbeatable advantage of 3-0 and Chris Cairns a winning send off in his last match of competitive cricket.

West Indies 126/7
D Ganga 26, S Chanderpaul 26, D Bravo 19*
S Bond 2/15, S Styris 2/33

Match Tied, New Zealand win the bowl-off 3-0.

New Zealand 126/8
L Vincent 42, S Styris 19
D Smith 2/9, D Bravo 2/16, C Gayle 2/22