Neil Wagner took three wickets to lead New Zealand to a 2-0 series win

Image courtesy of: Zimbio

New Zealand left-arm seamer Neil Wagner took three wickets to not only lead his side to a 240-run win over the West Indies in Hamilton, but also a 2-0 series win.

Starting off the day on 30/2, the West Indies added 13 runs their overnight score before stand-in captain Kraigg Brathwaite, who made 20 runs, became Trent Boult’s 200th victim in Test cricket.

Shai Hope scored 23 runs, while Sunil Ambris retired hurt on five and wicketkeeper Shane Dowrich was sent packing for a duck.

Roston Chase and Raymon Reifer stemmed the flow of wickets with a 78-run partnership, during which Chase brought up his fifty, before he was removed by Wagner for 64 off 98 balls, which included eight boundaries.

Reifer went on to make 29 runs before being dismissed by Tim Southee.

The West Indies were eventually bowled out for 203 when Kemar Roach was clean bowled by Mitchell Santner for a 44-ball 32.

Wagner was the pick of the bowlers with three wickets, while Boult, Southee and Santner claimed two wickets apiece.

Brathwaite was disappointed to have lost, and said: “They did a great job. For us, we didn’t really bat well, especially in the first innings. I thought the bowlers did a magnificent job, obviously it was tough on their bodies. Kemar Roach struggled a bit.

“I did enjoy the captaincy, it was a good experience. The guys gave me a lot of support, but Holder will be back and we’re all looking forward to welcoming him back. This was a tough loss, we’ve to be better with our shot selection.”

New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson was thrilled to have won the series 2-0, and said: “It was great to put two strong performances in this series. Credit to the way we stuck to our plans. 440 on the board going into the last innings where the wicket was getting variable, we wanted to pick a wicket or two last night.

“This was a good Test wicket, there was little bit off the deck. We saw how it played out. Fortunate to be on the right side of the result and yet learn a lot. Not a huge amount of Test cricket this year, but in terms of how we wanted to execute, we were superb.

“Ross’s ton was a special moment for him, he’s a world class player. To get us to a good score and set up a declaration, it was a considerable knock from a lot of angles.”

New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor was named Man of the Match for his record-equalling century, and said: “It’s been nice to get there, but the main thing is if you get a hundred and the team wins, there’s nothing better than that. It was nice to have some throwdowns in the morning and change a couple of little things which worked.

“We came here wanting to win the series, West Indies put us under pressure at different times but we were able to ride that. With a lot of big names coming in for West Indies, the one-day series will be competitive.”