New Zealand ease to series victory
New Zealand suffered few alarms as they eased to an eight-wicket victory in Hamilton to claim the series 2-0. It was their first series victory over a top-eight nation since they beat the same opposition in 2006
New Zealand suffered few alarms as they eased to an eight-wicket victory in Hamilton to claim the series 2-0. It was their first series victory over a top-eight nation since they beat the same opposition in 2006
Scorer: Sanjay Murari | Commentator: Rohan Sharma
And that's all she wrote folks. New Zealand come away with a 2-0 Test series result, and will be thoroughly pleased as they head into the ODIs in a couple of days. Hope you enjoyed the match over these last three and a half days. It has been a pleasure for me, and on behalf of Sanjay Murari, the scorer, this is Rohan Sharma wishing you good night, and good luck!
Brendon McCullum, New Zealand captain: It was an outstanding Test match and series. Commiserations to Darren and his team. Some choice words at times but it is how you should play. We are looking forward to the one-days now. Ross led the way with the bat and showed why he is a world-class player. He is one of the greats for us and so congratulate to him. The young bowling attack has also worked well for us. It's exciting, and we also have guys on the side who have tremendous talent as well. Some of the guys are really developing well, especially from Tim Southee and Trent Boult, and supported admirably by Corey Anderson and Neil Wagner. It's great fun to captain this side. We have had a tough time of late, but we have been putting in some pretty consistent performances of late. And these guys are a pretty easy bunch of guys to captain.
Darren Sammy, West Indies captain: Congratulations to Brendon and his team. I think once again we have had to learn a lesson at Test cricket. They played really well and batted and bowled better than us. We lost the series but there is a lot to learn, but we didn't show the required mental steel and toughness. It's the same story all over again. Bravo's double-hundred, Chanderpaul and Ramdin's hundreds are good, but we just haven't been consistent enough in Test cricket over a five-day period. The different format we can hopefully show a better side of us. We will have new players to bring in some new energy and hope bring the New Zealand public some entertainment over Christmas
Ross Taylor, Man of the Match: My mindset was the biggest thing I tried to work on. Pretty tough to play Test cricket and I worked on that. It was a very pleasing series for me, but winning the series was more important, especially by 2-0. A lot of people contributed, both in the set-up and others outside of that. The bowlers worked hard and to get a victory on day four is especially pleasing. Every time you score a hundred it's a proud moment. I am sure the West Indies side will come at us hard in the ODI series. Merry Christmas to all the NZ fans and everyone who has supported me.
A few words from NZC chief, David White, on the series and the ODI series starting on December 26
Time for the post-match presentation
We will be back in a few minutes for the post-match presentation
Rutherford manages to hit the winning runs as New Zealand have won this encounter against West Indies by eight wickets, which many wouldn't have picked, especially with the way the match was meandering to a draw on the third day afternoon. But the New Zealand seamers came back in a big way to win the final session, bowling West Indies out in their second innings for 103 to set up this victory. The New Zealand coach and backroom staff are visibly pleased with the effort, and so they should be, as New Zealand, who arguably should have whitewashed the West Indies after rain saved them on the final day of the 1st Test, but their go-slow approach cost them. Taylor, though, deserves the most accolades as he compiled scores of 217*, 16*, 129, 131 and 2* this series.
Andy: "Sooo happy for Taylor to hopefully hit the winning runs!"
New Zealand's first Test innings in 2013 saw them fold for 45. However, their series win against West Indies, with an emphatic victory in Hamilton, has capped off a year that has seen the Test team regroup impressively from the early lows
Darren Sammy has conceded that careers could be on the line after West Indies' 2-0 series defeat, including his own position as captain
On this Hamilton pitch, the in-form Sunil Narine would have been looking forward to defending a decent total for West Indies, but in typical fashion their batsmen have let the bowlers down
Ross Taylor rated his hundred at Seddon Park, his third in three consecutive Tests, as the best of that series after he combated the threat of Sunil Narine for five-and-a-half hours
Stats highlights form the third day's play between New Zealand and West Indies in Hamilton