Nine runs to win, 1 wicket in hand: New Zealand thriller with unassailable 3-1 lead over West Indies

While much of the sporting world was focused on the FIFA World Cup finals in New Jersey, New Zealand and the West Indies played out a thrilling one-day international at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, where both teams paid tribute to Sir Garry Sobers.New Zealand held their nerve to beat West Indies by one wicket in a low-scoring contest to take an unassailable 3-1 lead in the five-match ODI series.Captain Mitchell Santner led the chase with an unbeaten 34 to lead the lower order through the closing stages after New Zealand looked in danger of falling short. No.11 Jayden Lennox also played an important role, surviving 10 deliveries in an unbeaten nine-run stand with Santner to help the visitors over the line.Lennox was named man of the match in each of the previous two games for his bowling performances.Earlier, Mark Chapman top-scored for New Zealand with 80 after West Indies were bowled out for 188 on the two-tier surface.With three runs needed and one wicket remaining, Santner was dismissed before Lennox survived reviews for both caught and lbw appeals. New Zealand eventually reached the target with 35 balls to spare.“It was pretty chaotic, especially the ending,” Santner said. “You try to separate the total as much as you can. Even a partnership of 10 or 15 at that stage would have gone a long way.“It probably shouldn’t have gotten that close, but it was nice to get over the line.The match was played two days after the death of Sir Garry Sobers, who died on Friday aged 89. Playing in Sobers’ hometown of Bridgetown and at the Kensington Oval where he built his career, the West Indies hoped to honor one of the country’s greatest cricketers with a victory.Both teams wore black armbands, flags flew at half-mast, two seats in the Sir Garry Sobers Pavilion were left empty and a minute’s silence was observed before kick-off.Sobers is widely regarded as the greatest West Indian cricketer and one of the greatest all-rounders in the history of the game, having scored more than 8,000 Test runs and taken more than 200 wickets.West Indies’ hopes of a fitting tribute suffered an early setback when New Zealand won the toss and opted to bowl. The teams in second place have now won all four games in the series.The home side slumped to 58 for 3 and then 81 for 6 before Amir Jangoo and Gudakesh Motie added 81 runs for the seventh wicket to revive the innings.Jangoo scored 51 off 71 balls while Motie contributed 41 to take West Indies to 188.Young fast bowler Matthew Fisher took 3 for 40, his first ODI wickets in New Zealand.