Munro, Black Caps rack up records and take Windies series

First Published By: Sports Max TV 

Sports Max – Colin Munro helped himself to a stunning hundred as New Zealand posted their highest T20 total to smash West Indies in Tauranga.

Colin Munro led a record-breaking day in Tauranga, scoring his third Twenty20 International hundred as New Zealand thrashed West Indies by 119 runs.

Opener Munro now has more T20I centuries than any other player, having blitzed 104 off 53 balls at Mount Maunganui in New Zealand’s 243-5 – the Black Caps’ new record score in the shortest format.

Martin Guptill hit 63 in a 136-run opening stand alongside Munro as the hosts powered towards a 2-0 series victory in the third and final contest.

Chris Gayle set the tone for a wretched Windies reply, out for a second-ball duck, as the tourists crumbled to 124 all out.

There was rich anticipation as Gayle strode to the crease, given what Munro had managed previously, bludgeoning 10 sixes in his rapid-fire innings – the only disappointment was perhaps the number of them that were put down in the crowd.

Guptill was circumspect by comparison to his team-mate, but still hit five fours and two maximums before he fell to Rayad Emrit.

Tom Bruce (23), Anaru Kitchen (9), captain Kane Williamson (19) all cleared the ropes alongside Munro, with Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Santner also hitting maximums, the latter off his only ball faced, as New Zealand racked up the seventh-highest total in T20I history.

If anyone could pull the tourists into contention, it was surely Gayle, but the veteran was bounced out by Tim Southee in a two-wicket opening over that saw Chadwick Walton depart first ball.

The poor start gave the Windies’ innings a processional feel, with Andre Fletcher (46) the only batsman to display any resistance for the World T20 champions.

New Zealand’s biggest winning margin in T20I takes them back to the top of the International Cricket Council (ICC) world rankings.