New Zealand foil dramatic big hitting by West Indies’ Carlos Brathwaite

On the most thrilling and gulpingly tight of nights at a packed Old Trafford, a bombastic hundred from Carlos Brathwaite just failed to carry West Indies to an astounding victory over New Zealand.

In a brutal array of late-order hitting that sent the ball this way and that, from screaming top edge to flat‑batted swipe, Brathwaite crushed nine fours and five sixes, as a lost cause became possible and then probable, with the New Zealanders dry-throated in the face of the big man for the big occasion – the man who had won the World T20 in 2016 with four successive sixes off Ben Stokes in the last over of the game.

Coming in at 142 for four, in the middle of a West Indies collapse of five wickets for 22 off 28 balls, Brathwaite did sensible, in a partnership of 46 with Kemar Roach, stepped it up while compiling 34 with Sheldon Cottrell and, most astonishing of all, hit 41 with Oshane Thomas, a partnership in which the No 11 failed to score a run.

Brathwaite was colossally calm, colossally powerful. He juggernauted Lockie Ferguson over long-off for six– 33 needed off three overs. A four and three ballooning sixes followed off Matt Henry, including a one-handed top-edged slice over third man that broke his bat.

With just eight needed off two overs, Kane Williamson threw the ball to Jimmy Neesham – who somehow restricted Brathwaite to two off five balls. Brathwaite charged at his final delivery, searching for that final winning six, chopping it high into the Old Trafford night, where it was held by Trent Boult at long-on inches from the boundary. Brathwaite was out for 101 off 82 balls, with five fours and nine sixes. The batsmen sank to the ground. A win for New Zealand by five runs, with an over to spare and a boot in the semi-final – but the standing ovation and the crowd’s affection belonged to Brathwaite and West Indies.

The New Zealand innings had been dominated by Williamson’s second consecutive hundred of the competition and his highest ODI score. From the wreckage of 10 for two at the end of New Zealand’s first over – with both openers, Martin Guptill and Colin Munro, out for ducks to Cottrell yorkers – Williamson had threaded the needle. Stitch, stitch; open the face of the bat down to third man. Stitch, stitch; nurdle and nudge. Stitch, stitch, quick hands, an immaculately straight drive. Slowly, the bearded man in anonymous black embroidered together an innings of quiet genius.

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At 30 for two in the 10th over, New Zealand had produced the slowest power play of any match of the tournament. When Ross Taylor lifted Jason Holder to the midwicket boundary in the 13th over it was the first boundary in nine overs.

But calmly, Taylor and Williamson kept things ticking over. Their carefully put together partnership of 167, New Zealand’s largest of this World Cup, only ended when Jason Holder summoned his lumbering mulberry from the covers.

Chris Gayle may rarely break into a walk these days, but there is magic in those boots. Ten balls into his spell, he had frustrated Taylor into a nothing shot to mid-off where Holder held the catch – out for 69. Gayle punched the air, the strain of unexpected movement causing him to clutch his shoulder and potter briefly off the field.

With Taylor gone, Williamson tiptoed towards his hundred, immune to the frustration of an ever-present midwicket, until finally Kemar Roach pitched leg-side and Williamson pulled him to the fine leg boundary – a century off 124 balls. That done, he upped the tempo, just the sweetest of cover drives.

On 128 he survived a caught behind when a replay showed the ball spilling out of Shai Hope’s gloves; he replied with a balletic strike through point for four, then a huge flick over deep square leg. He eventually sent a top edge spiralling into the sky off Cottrell – who was an ever-present danger, taking four for 56 with his spaghetti action, plus two catches and a run-out. The opener had gone for 148 runs of anonymous brilliance.

It was the first time New Zealand had batted first in this World Cup and for a long period in the West Indies’ early reply, it didn’t seem enough. Trent Boult dismissed both Hope and Nicholas Pooran for one but suddenly a pitch that had seemed so slow and difficult to score off became friendly as Chris Gayle and Shimron Hetmyer decided that caution wasn’t for them – ba-boom, Gayle crashed Henry for four and six. Hetmyer flew off the mark with a wristy flick for four.

The New Zealand band of brothers started to fray. Gayle on 15 sliced Henry impossibly high and a back-pedalling Boult spilled it, knocking the ball into the boundary. Gayle smashed the two subsequent short deliveries over long-on and long leg for six. And then Hetmyer crashed three fours off Neesham. And so it went on, with Gayle dropped twice more off one Santner over.

Big crowd-pleasing hit followed big crowd-pleasing hit until at last Ferguson made the breakthrough, bamboozling Hetmyer with a slower ball and bowling him for 54 off 45 balls, a thrilling partnership with Gayle of 122. Next ball Holder had a cement-footed nibble and was caught behind.

When Gayle leaned back and heaved at De Grandhomme all seemed lost but Brathwaite had other ideas, all but taking West Indies over the line and setting Old Trafford alight.

source: theguardian.com