At one point, even reaching 200 looked ambitious. Under gloomy skies the ball was doing plenty, and West Indies were struggling at 130 for 6 in the 24th over. But Hope flipped the momentum brilliantly. West Indies hammered 117 runs in the final ten overs, finishing with an impressive run rate of 7.26.
Rain delayed the start by nearly three hours, leaving the outfield damp and the match reduced. When the toss finally happened, Mitchell Santner had no hesitation in choosing to bowl first.
From ball one, batting looked like a grind. Matt Henry didn’t swing it much, but Kyle Jamieson was getting sharp movement both ways. Three of the first four overs were maidens, with the only boundary coming from an inside-edge from Ackeem Auguste.
After some nervous strokes, Auguste finally broke free by lofting Henry straight back over his head in the fifth over. But Jamieson soon removed John Campbell, who struggled throughout before edging a length ball to deep third.
With only 18 runs in the seven-over powerplay, West Indies tried to lift the rate against Blair Tickner, in for Jacob Duffy. Auguste hit him over the top, and Keacy Carty carved him behind point, but Carty didn’t last long—Jamieson’s opening spell of 5-2-12-2 put New Zealand firmly on top.
Hope then began to take control. He pulled Tickner to the vacant deep midwicket area and drove him through the covers to bring up 6000 ODI runs—becoming the second-fastest West Indian to reach the milestone, just one inning behind Viv Richards.
Auguste’s dismissal brought Sherfane Rutherford to the crease, and he joined Hope in shifting the tempo. Hope launched Santner over midwicket, while Rutherford smashed Smith for two big sixes to inject life into the innings.
But New Zealand struck again. Santner removed Rutherford, and Smith uprooted Roston Chase with a beautiful indipper. Justin Greaves also fell early, but Hope kept pushing on.
He reached fifty from 42 balls and then shifted gears. At 130 for 6, he took full responsibility, attacking everything in sight. Romario Shepherd supported him well, hammering Henry for two sixes and taking on Tickner as well.
After Shepherd’s exit, Matthew Forde stepped up, with both he and Hope punishing Henry and Jamieson at the death. One of Hope’s highlights was a clever lob over the wicketkeeper as he picked apart the bowling.
He sped through the 90s, smashing Henry for consecutive boundaries before bringing up his first ODI hundred against New Zealand—his 19th overall—with a straight hit down the ground in the final over. With 13 fours and four sixes, Hope walked off with his arms raised, having dragged West Indies to a total that gives them a real shot in the match.
