Shimron Hetmyer holds nerve to guide West Indies to win in final New Zealand ODI

E-Paper | July 23, 2026

NEW ZEALAND players pose with the ODI series trophy after the fifth match against West Indies at the Kensington Oval.—AFP

BRIDGETOWN: Shimron Hetmyer kept his composure under pressure to score an unbeaten 69 and guide the West Indies to a two-wicket victory over New Zealand in the fifth and final one-day international on Tuesday.

New Zealand nevertheless won the series 3-2, having secured it in the fourth match. The visitors had won the second and third games by five and six wickets respectively after the West Indies opened the series with a seven-wicket victory.

The West Indies chased down New Zealand’s 268-9 by reaching 269-8 with 15 balls remaining. Hetmyer, who scored his fifth ODI half-century, shared a 95-run fifth-wicket partnership with Sherfane Rutherford, who made 61.

All five matches in the series were won by the team batting second.

The West Indies appeared to be cruising when Hetmyer and Rutherford joined forces after Shai Hope’s 39 and Keacy Carty’s 20 had laid the platform with a 59-run partnership for the third wicket.

The momentum, however, shifted repeatedly.

Rutherford departed with the West Indies on 218-5, with 41 runs still required from almost 10 overs. Gudakesh Motie followed at 239-6.

Jacob Duffy then dismissed Matthew Forde and Alzarri Joseph with successive deliveries in the 45th over, leaving the West Indies needing 21 runs and bringing New Zealand back into the contest.

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner made the unusual decision to remove left-arm spinner Jayden Lennox from the attack after he had taken 3-35 in nine overs.

Hetmyer punished Duffy by hitting two sixes in the 47th over before the West Indies completed the chase with more than two overs to spare.

Lennox finished the series with 14 wickets at an average of 13.6 and was named player of the series.

“I wasn’t really thinking about getting a half-century, to be honest. I was just thinking about how I could make sure the team crossed the line,” Hetmyer said. “Every time a new batter came out, I was just like, ‘Make sure you’re there at the end.’ I’m just happy that I could be there to make sure we crossed the line.”

New Zealand had looked set for a bigger total after reaching 181-3 in the 35th over and 230-5 with five overs left.

Will Young scored 56, Tom Latham made 69 and Nick Kelly hit 64, but New Zealand could not finish the innings strongly against tight bowling. Alzarri Joseph was particularly effective, taking 2-38 in his 10 overs.

QUICK START

The West Indies raced past eight runs an over during the opening five overs of their chase.

But the hosts then lost both openers, Ackeem Auguste and Justin Greaves, within five deliveries. Hope and Carty kept the scoring rate above seven an over after 10 overs, however, allowing the West Indies to maintain the pressure.

New Zealand then turned to its spinners to slow the scoring. Carty was tied down by a succession of dot balls and, after the West Indies reached 118-2, both he and Hope were dismissed within three overs.

Hope fell to a poor delivery from Lennox, attempting to hit it over the leg side but pulling the ball to Kristian Clarke, who came in from the boundary to take the catch at midwicket.

Carty, frustrated after being unable to score freely, finally slashed across the line at a straight delivery from Lennox and was bowled.

Rutherford then revived the innings and found an ideal partner in Hetmyer, who was determined to remain at the crease until the end.

Scoreboard

NEW ZEALAND:

H. Nicholls b Forde10

W. Young b Lawes56

N. Kelly c Greaves b Motie64

M. Chapman c Motie b Lawes11

T. Latham c Auguste b Joseph69

M. Bracewell c Hope b Joseph1

M. Santner run out13

N. Smith c Greaves b Seales18

K. Clarke run out4

J. Duffy not out5

EXTRAS (B-5, LB-7, NB-2, W-3)17

TOTAL (for nine wickets, 50 overs)268

DID NOT BAT: J. Lennox

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-16 (Nicholls), 2-102 (Young), 3-127 (Chapman), 4-181 (Kelly), 5-182 (Bracewell), 6-230 (Santner), 7-239 (Latham), 8-247 (Clarke), 9-268 (Smith)

BOWLING: Forde 10-1-49-1 (1w), Seales 10-1-57-1 (2w), Lawes 10-0-63-2 (2nb), Joseph 10-1-38-2, Motie 10-0-49-1

WEST INDIES:

A. Auguste b Smith34

J. Greaves c Smith b Duffy22

K. Carty b Lennox20

S. Hope c Clarke b Lennox39

S. Rutherford st Latham b Bracewell61

S. Hetmyer not out69

G. Motie c Santner b Lennox4

M. Forde b Duffy8

A. Joseph c Nicholls b Duffy0

J. Seales not out5