Nelson, Nov 9 (IANS) New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner was all praises for Kyle Jamieson, who held his nerves in the final over to take his side to a win against the West Indies on Sunday. The Men in Black played the Men in Maroon in a third consecutive thriller and edged past them to take a 2-1 lead in the ongoing T20I series.

The Kiwis clinched a close nine-run victory in the third of the five T20Is and restricted the visitors from chasing down the 178-run target. Batting first, the New Zealanders posted 177-9 on board thanks to Conway’s 56 and Daryl Mitchell’s 41. Ish Sodhi and Jacob Duffy then stood out with their respective three-wicket hauls and helped their side cross the line.

Speaking on the players stepping up, Santner, during the post-match presentation, said, “Yeah, there was. I think that was the most pleasing thing. Different guys stepping up at different times, especially in a five-match series, is pretty key. It was a very scrappy win, but nice to be on the right side of one.”

“It’s always a challenge when you come up against such a team that bats so deep. And we know they’ve got power all the way through. So I guess our main goal is to try and keep taking wickets even though they had a partnership from 8 and 10 there. We probably should have got 190 at least, maybe. But then I think the way the boys started, when it’s swinging, we’re nice. Then when it’s not, obviously, Ish, outstanding again. And the boys adapted quickly with cutters. And I think even at the end, they had bouncers and slowies and yorkers. It was nice to watch,” he added.

Jamieson was yet again brilliant with the ball as he managed to defend 12 runs off the final over to hand his team another win in the series. The pacer bowled clutch last-over spells in consecutive games as the Kiwis won back-to-back matches in the five-game series.

Speaking further and praising Jamieson’s efforts, Santner added, “The more you put yourself in these opportunities or these chances, you’re going to learn from it all the time, obviously. And KJ, twice in two days, probably won’t do it every day. But you bank that experience for what’s coming up. You might be in a similar situation in the World Cup when the game’s on the line. So, the only problem for KJ, if he keeps doing it so well, he’s going to have to keep doing it. But obviously as a unit, the bowlers were outstanding.”

–IANS

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