It was only the second time that a total of over 250 was chased at Providence, Guyana. WI lead the five-match series 1-0. We will be back for the coverage of the second ODI, which will be played at the same venue on 13 July. Until then, it is goodbye from Andrew McGlashan, Harshith Gowda, and my side.
Shai Hope, WI captain: The automatic qualification for the 50-over World Cup is still a long way off, but you have to start somewhere and I am happy with the game today. [On what pleased him about this win] It was the fight that the guys showed. There were a few injuries in the background but the guys put their hands up. Our batting was really good, as it is never easy to score freely in Guyana. Credit to Keacy for the way he came in and controlled the game. He was not scoring as many runs as we know he is capable of so it was great to see him lead the team. [On Vitel Lawes] He was extremely commendable. There were some nerves early on which is normal. But it was good to see him come in and express himself. He was really in his groove, especially after bowling four, five overs. It is good to see him show his class and get some wickets. He has a unique skill which we lack in the Caribbean. [On partnership with Keacy Carty] Partnerships are very important especially in Guyana, as it is very difficult to start here. So if a player gets in he has to go deep. Keacy was batting very well today. He shepherded the innings and I was there to support him. [On whether the pitch changed in the second innings] I don't think it changed too much, to be fair. It was skidding a bit more. If I am being critical, it got a little bit better to bat. But it is still never easy to come out here and score freely.
Mitchell Santner, NZ captain: It was a close and good game. It looked pretty challenging with the bad first innings. We knew it was going to be a slow wicket. We were on track for 280 but West Indies bowled extremely well, especially their spinners and then Alzarri in the end. It was a clinical chase.
Keacy Carty is the player of the match: I was able to contribute and West Indies got over the line, which is most important. It is good to be back in the runs. I have had a drought and I went back to the drawing board and luckily things worked in my favour. You have got high and lows in the game, but you have got to keep working and coming back everyday. [On pitch] It was a slow and low pitch. We asked for a spinning track against a fast bowling nation. It was not the easiest. I had a good start, but things got slow. That's how the game goes. Sometimes the momentum may shift in the innings, but you have got to stick until things come back in your favour. [On partnership with Shai Hope] He was flowing when he came in. I think he was going over 100 strike rate which was good for me. Our partnership then kind of flipped later on in the evening. We worked well together.
19-year-old Vitel Lawes impressed on debut earlier with three wickets for 54 before Alzarri Joesph, who took four for 41, returned for an explosive spell in the death to bowl out NZ. WI could not have asked for a better start to this series.
Darren Sammy has a wide smile on his face as he descends from the viewing area of the dressing room. This has been a proper run chase by his charges and there was no point in the run chase when WI did not look in control. It was set by the brilliant knocks of 95 and 87 not out from Keacy Carty and captain Shai Hope. The pair struck a crucial 131-run partnership for the third wicket.
Shoaib: "Shoddy captaincy from Santner. Our most in form bowler has bowled the least overs!"
