Black Caps beat West Indies at McLean Park, Napier for 11th successive home ODI series win

Wednesday, 19 November 2025

Devon Conway during his sparkling innings of 90 against West Indies in Napier.

Second ODI at McLean Park, Napier: West Indies 247-9 off 34 overs (Shai Hope 109no off 69; Nathan Smith 4-42 off 7, Kyle Jamieson 3-44 off 7) lost to New Zealand 248-5 off 33.3 overs (Devon Conway 90 off 84, Rachin Ravindra 56 off 46, Tom Latham 39no off 29, Mitchell Santner 34no off 15; Matthew Forde 1-42 off 7) by 5 wickets.

Another nailbiter, another New Zealand victory and more hand-wringing for the West Indies. Thanks to cool heads from their two most senior men, the Black Caps secured their 11th successive ODI series win on home soil with a five-wicket victory at McLean Park, Napier on Wednesday.

A late onslaught by skipper Mitchell Santner and test captain Tom Latham as the clock ticked past 10.30pm clinched it with three balls to spare, as they chased down 248 off a rain-shortened 34 overs in game two.

Santner (34 off 15) and Latham (39 off 29) were unbeaten at the end, after they needed eight off the final over bowled by Jayden Seales. The second ball, to Latham, was a horror full toss which he clipped for four and was called no-ball, and it was a stroll from there.

For most of the chase the West Indies had the edge, after a breathtaking unbeaten 109 off 69 balls by captain Shai Hope gave them a highly competitive total.

But thanks to a sparkling 90 from Devon Conway and a century stand with Rachin Ravindra (56), then the late flurry, the touring side were again found wanting in the pressure-packed final overs after they fell seven runs short in Christchurch.

Now the series moves to Hamilton on Saturday where the hosts will chase another clean sweep on home soil where they know they are near unbeatable in the 50-over game.

Not in 73 ODIs stretching back to February 2020, when Martin Guptill and Henry Nicholls combined for 106 against India at Seddon Park, had a Black Caps opening pair put on a century stand.

With a required rate of 7.3 on a pitch still tricky against the new ball and test frontliner Seales, the Wellington duo Conway and Ravindra took it up. They negotiated a tough early period and then began demolishing anything short to the enticing square boundaries.

One Ravindra six clattered the roof of the Graeme Lowe Stand, and he clouted another over the rope one-handed as he cruised to 50 off 42 balls and looked on track for his first ODI century at home.

But on 56 he steered one to point, ending a 106-run partnership, and the wobbles returned. Will Young’s struggles continued then Mark Chapman - in for the newly-minted world ODI No 1 batsman Daryl Mitchell - holed out second ball at the scene of his blistering 132 against Pakistan in March.

Nathan Smith bagged a four-wicket haul in the second ODI.

Conway charged on, looking back to his best and a first ODI ton in 16 innings since England at the 2023 World Cup beckoned. A cut off Shamar Springer looked boundary-bound until Roston Chase plucked it out of the air, and it was advantage West Indies again.

After a three-hour rain delay Santner wore a wry grin as the coin flipped. “It keeps falling tails and Shai keeps calling heads,” he said, having won yet another toss.

Bowling first was the only option and as the ball jagged about for Matt Henry and the returning Nathan Smith, and swung around corners for Kyle Jamieson it looked all too easy at 86-5 in the 16th.

Shai Hope lit up McLean Park with a whirlwind century.

Hope is a class act who averages 50 in ODIs and hadn’t really fired in New Zealand. As he became the second-fastest West Indies batsman to 6000 career runs (just one innings more than the great Viv Richards) another target loomed: an ODI century against every test-playing nation.

As allrounders Romario Shepherd and Matthew Forde chipped in, Hope went berserk and no Black Caps bowler was spared as anything astray was punished on a pitch the Black Caps scored 344-9 against Pakistan in March.

Hope raised a 67-ball century with a huge straight six off Jamieson and was still unbeaten as the West Indies took 117 off the final 10.2 overs. Wickets kept falling at the other end, though, as Smith was lively and accurate in snaring his best ODI figures of 4-42.

On his home ground Blair Tickner was brought back to earth after successive four-wicket hauls against England, and went for 10 an over.