Close New Zealand 212 for 5 (44.2 overs: Astle 91*, Styris 62*, Gayle 2-25, Dillon 2-26) beat West Indies 202 for 9 (33 overs: Gayle 60, Jacobs 60*, Styris 6-25) by 9 runs (Duckworth/Lewis)
scorecard

An outstanding allround performance from Scott Styris steered New Zealand to a narrow victory in a rain-affected match at Port of Spain, setting up a series decider in St Vincent on Saturday (June 15).

The first part of Styris's heroics came with the bat. Arriving at the crease with New Zealand struggling at 90 for 5, with Nathan Astle he added an unbeaten 122 runs for the sixth wicket before rain brought an early end to the innings.

Astle hammered 91 not out off 115 balls, but Styris was the real revelation. His muscular 62 not out included two sixes, and came off only 73 balls.

Merv Dillon was the pick of the West Indies attack with 2 for 26, while Chris Gayle again strangled the New Zealand middle order with his gentle offspinners. He picked up Lou Vincent and Chris Harris, and took 2 for 25 from 7.2 overs.

With West Indies set a Duckworth/Lewis target of 212 from 33 overs, Chris Gayle and Shivnarine Chanderpaul gave them a flying start by smashing 49 off the first seven overs. Chanderpaul was bowled by Paul Hitchcock for 14, and then Styris struck. He had Brian Lara caught by wicketkeeper Chris Nevin for 0 and after a mini-recovery had seen West Indies reach 97 for 2, he removed Carl Hooper and Ramnaresh Sarwan in quick succession.

While Chris Gayle remained West Indies were still in the hunt but, inevitably, Styris had him caught by Chris Harris for a run-a-ball 60 and despite a gutsy, unbeaten 60 from Ridley Jacobs the task was always just beyond the West Indies tail.

Styris's figures were the best by a New Zealander in a one-day international, and it was only the second occasion that anyone had taken five wickets and scored a half-century in an ODI (the first being Lance Klusener). Not surprisingly, he was named Man of the Match.

The result keeps New Zealand in the hunt and they need a win in the final game to square the series 2-2. Unfortunately, the seasonal rain might well have the final say.

West Indies 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Brian Lara, 5 Carl Hooper (capt), 6 Wavell Hinds, 7 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 8 Ryan Hinds, 9 Merv Dillon, 10 Corey Collymore, 11 Cameron Cuffy.

New Zealand 1 Stephen Fleming (capt), 2 Nathan Astle, 3 Chris Nevin (wk), 4 Craig McMillan, 5 Lou Vincent, 6 Chris Harris, 7 Scott Styris, 8 Daniel Vettori, 9 Daryl Tuffey, 10 Shane Bond, 11 Paul Hitchcock.

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