West Indies captain Darren Sammy says his side “capitalised on the key moments” after completing their 2-0 Series win over New Zealand with a five-wicket triumph in the second Test in Kingston.
The Windies reached the Black Caps’ target of 205 with five wickets to spare, as man-of-the-match Marlon Samuels hit 52, while Shivnarine Chanderpaul finished off the job with an unbeaten 43.
New Zealand had started the Test well with Martin Guptill again looking strong at the top of the order with 71, but after being 3/161, they collapsed to be all out for 260, with Kemar Roach the chief destroyer with four wickets.
However, the Windies struggled in reply, managing only 209 - despite Samuels’ ton - before Sunil Narine and Narsingh Deonarine reaked havoc to bowl out the Black Caps for a dismal 154 in their second innings. The Windies then finished the job, reaching 5/206 with a day to spare.
“When the team needed somebody to step up, someone always put their hand up,” Sammy said.
“It contributed to us winning the series. The result here is the product of hard work.”
The result is a significant one for West Indies cricket, with changes mooted at coaching and selector level if there was another series defeat. Sammy added the series victory was against a good opponent and is a sure sign of their improvement.
“I think they were quite tough,” Sammy said. “Like I said, in all the games they had chances but we capitalised on these key moments in most of the games and that’s why we were victorious.”