West Indies made a big difference by defeating New Zealand by 5 wickets in the first ODI. After 8 years, the Windies have won their first match against New Zealand, ending their drought of victory. Batting first, New Zealand was bundled out for just 190 runs in this rain-interrupted match. This score was achieved by the hosts in 39 overs on the basis of Shammah Brooks's brilliant innings of 79 runs. Brooks was awarded the Man of the Match award for his brilliant innings. West Indies had earlier defeated the Kiwi team in an ODI match in 2014.
In the first match of the three-match ODI series played in Barbados, Windies captain Nicholas Pooran won the toss and elected to bowl first. New Zealand was given a good start by Finn Allen (25) and Martin Guptill (24) adding 41 runs for the first wicket in 8.4 overs. After this, Kane Williamson (34) kept one end but wickets kept falling from the other end at frequent intervals. Apart from the top three batsmen, only Michael Bracewell (31) and Mitchell Santner (25) managed to cross the 20-run mark. Aqeel Hossein and Alzarri Joseph took 3 wickets each for West Indies.
In front of experienced bowlers like Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Mitchell Santner, the target of 191 runs for the West Indies was not going to be easy. The hosts lost both their openers in the form of Shay Hope (26) and Kyle Meyers (6) for 37 runs, while they lost their third wicket at 74 in the form of Kesey Carty who was dismissed for 11 runs.
Brooks then got the support of captain Nicholas Pooran, with whom he shared a 75-run partnership to show the team winning. Brooks scored 79 runs in 91 balls with the help of 9 fours and a six, while Pooran scored 28 runs. Windies are leading 1-0 in this three-match series. The next match of the series is to be played at this ground from August 19.
