The West Indies turned up for the occasion and gave their fans who have been starved of cricket, a wonderful present with a 56-run victory over New Zealand in their historic T20 clash at the Central Broward Regional Park in Lauderhill in Florida, USA, yesterday. The match marked the first instance of West Indies playing a match in America and they gave the people here an occasion to remember. Batting first, the regional side tallied 209 for two off their 20 overs and then restricted New Zealand to 153 for nine off their 20 overs. Defending a huge score, the West Indians brought back memories of the great days gone by, as they were absolutely brilliant in the field. New Zealand could not build momentum because they lost wickets at regular intervals and the West Indies were always in the lead. When the bowlers were not taking wickets, the fieldsmen kept knocking the stumps out the ground much to the amusement of the fans in the vast grassy mound. Sunil Narine's bag of tricks was too much for the Kiwis as he ended with 3/34 and the outfielders threw down the wickets for two run-outs.
Earlier, some 30,000 fans braved the searing heat and made it into the ground for the historic event. They would have seen white balls fly on their televisions but yesterday they were actually getting a feel of it as the West Indian batsmen landed 12 into their hands in the packed stands. The New Zealanders won the toss and a great roar went up in the stadium a they asked the West Indies to take first strike. Gayle and Dwayne Smith started the run gathering immediately. Smith struck two sixes and a four in his cameo 17 before leaving Gayle's company. The West Indians were already off to a flyer with 27 runs on the tins in just four overs. The youthful Johnson Charles was next in and he partnered Gayle, who came into his own in this partnership to take the score past the century mark.
Gayle's intent was clear-and that was to bat out the innings. Charles played an attractive innings and got to 24 off 29 balls with three fours before he left. The man to walk in next was Keiron Pollard, who got an ovation that the fans would have reserved for Sir Vivian Richards in their earlier times in the Caribbean. He was warmly received and in turn warmed the hands of the spectators as he frequently stroked the ball in their direction. He and Gayle had the West Indian supporters in their glee as ball after ball was dispatched. Pollard was dynamic and ended with an unbeaten 63 off just 29 balls with five fours and five sixes. Gayle struck three sixes off three balls in Bracewell's final over that took the score past the 200-run mark. He ended undefeated on 85 off 52 balls with seven fours and five sixes. Today, both teams return to the venue for their second match of the two-match series, starting at 2.30 pm.
SCOREBOARD
West Indies vs New Zealand
West Indies innings
C Gayle not out 85
D Smith b Bracewell 17
J Charles c Oram b Williamson 24
K Pollard not out 63
Extras: w13, nb3, lb1, b3 20
Total: (20ovs) for 2 wkts 209
Fall of wkts: 27, 101.
Bowling: N McCullum 4-0-30-0, D Bracewell 4-0-47-1, T Southee 4-0-35-0, J Oram 2-0-26-0, R Hira 2.2-0-22-0, K Williamson 1.4-0-21-1, R Nicol 2-0-24-0.
New Zealand innings
M Guptil st Ramdin b Narine 12
R Nicol ret hurt 19
R Taylor c Edwards b Bravo 28
K Williamson c & b Sammy 5
T Southee st Ramdin b Narine 23
R Latham run out 15
J Oram c Bravo b Edwards 27
D Brownlie run out 0
N McCullum lbw Narine 0
D Bracewell not out 11
R Hira absent injured
Extras: lb8, w6 14
Total: for 9 wkts 153.
Fall of wkts: 37, 72, 84, 114, 115, 116, 124, 153.
Bowling: F Edwards 3.3-0-25-1, S Badree 4-0-33-0 (3w), S Narine 4-0-34-3 (1w), M Samuels 2-0-14-0, D Sammy 2-0-13-1, D Bravo 3-0-26-1.
Result: West Indies won by 56 runs.
Man-of-match: Chris Gayle.
