Phillips smashes half-century as NZ thrash WI to clinch T20I series

KINGSTON: New Zealand middle-order bater Glenn Phillips scored a quick-fire half-century, while opener Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell ma de use ful contributions a s the visitors thra she d West Indies by 90 runs in the second T20I here to take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series on Saturday.

Phillips first reached the half-century mark off just 31 balls and finally ended up scoring 76 off just 41 balls at a strike rate of 185 as the Black Caps amassed a mammoth 215/5 in their 20 ove rs, with Ha yde n Wa lsh a nd a ll-rounde r Ja son Holder being punished for bowling wayward.

With contributions of 42 a nd 48 from Conwa y and Mitchell respectively, New Zealand crossed the 200-run mark, exceeding the 185/5 in the opening game which the visitors won by 13 runs.

This was the highest total by a visiting team against the Caribbean side in T20IS.

In reply, west indies’ top order was wiped out in no time and they finally managed a dismal 125/9, with Mitchell Santner (3/15) and Michael Bracewell (3/15) doing the maximum damage, and not allowing as table partnership to blossom.

Earlier, Phillips added 71 runs for the third wicket with Conway and another 83 with Mitchell as the visitors went on the ram page, scoring 130 off their last 10 overs.

The final T20I will be played at the same venue on August 14, which will be followed by a three-match ODI series.

Brief scores: New Zealand 215/5 in 20 overs (Phillips 76, Mitchell 48, Conway 42; Mccoy 3/40) beat West Indies 125/9 (Bracewell 3/15, Santner 3/15) by 90 runs.