Central Districts left-arm spinner Jayden Lennox bowled the Black Caps to a five-wicket win over the West Indies in Guyana yesterday.
The 31-year-old claimed a maiden ODI five-wicket bag in just his seventh one-dayer for his country.
His haul of five for 19 was largely responsible for the home team crumbling to be all out for 138 on a difficult wicket for batting.
Lennox got considerable turn.
Fellow New Zealand spinners Mitchell Santner (two for 21) and Michael Bracewell (two for 51) found the surface to their liking as well.
Other than the run-out of Alzarri Joseph for one, the trio combined to take all the wickets.
The chase was more of a grind than expected.
Will Young made a brisk 28 at the top of the innings, but runs did not flow that easily.
Daryl Mitchell dug in for 28 from 43, and Tom Latham’s undefeated 37 from 61 helped ease any nerves in the camp.
Bracewell scored 24 not out from 26 balls to help secure the win and level the series 1-1.
But the day belonged to Lennox.
The Windies actually made a promising start.
Openers John Campbell (43) and Ackeem Auguste (18) put on 63 for the first wicket.
Bracewell made the initial breakthrough. Auguste sliced a catch to Henry Nicholls at point.
Santner bowled Campbell with an arm ball that skidded through.
Then Lennox took over.
He bowled star batter and captain Shai Hope for seven.
Sherfane Rutherford tried to defend with soft hands but succeeded in guiding the ball on to his stumps.
Lennox snuck the ball past Gudakeash Motie and Matthew Forde to double his haul to four.
Then he trapped Vitel Lawes lbw for a duck to complete his five-wicket bag.
He claimed the third-best figures for a New Zealand spinner in ODIs, behind Daniel Vettori’s five for seven and Ish Sodhi's six for 39.
New Zealand has real depth when it comes to left-arm spinners.
Santner is the pick of the crop and Ajaz Patel continues to play professionally alongside Lennox at Central Districts.
They are all following in the footsteps of Vettori, who set the benchmark during a glittering international career spanning 18 years.
And because we know how much cricket fans like numbers ending in “00’’, that was the Black Caps’ 400th ODI win.
Game three in the series is on Friday.
