West Indies vs New Zealand, 4th ODI, New Zealand tour of West Indies, 2026 - CommentaryWI vs NZ, 4th ODI, New Zealand tour of West Indies, 2026 - Commentary

It was a potpourri of emotions at the end. Both teams could have won it. But it is NZ who have taken the series 3-1. Was a superb game and went down to the wire but NZ have taken it. Windies will play for pride in the last game. We will be back for the final game! Bye bye for now..

Mitchell Santner | New Zealand captain & Player of the Match: [On keeping his composure in the tense chase] It was pretty chaotic, especially the ending, but I think, you try to chip off the totals as much as you can. It's just, you know, even partnerships of 10, 15 at that stage was going a long way. So probably shouldn't have got that close, but yeah, it was nice to get over the line. [On the bowling performance] I think it was a little bit tacky maybe this morning, and the seamers started us off pretty well, then spinners got into their work. And yeah, we were very happy to turn at 188, but we know, obviously, how good West Indies bowlers are and they were pretty good today. [On batting with the lower order] I guess because the target wasn't, that we did have a lot of time. It was just trying to tick off balls when you could, try not to expose the tail too much. Alzarri was flying in and getting into reverse, which was pretty challenging. But obviously, the spin, Motie bowled, you know, outstanding, five-fer out there was very good. [On his conversations with Jayden Lennox] I just said, you just play straight and block it, and I'll try to get 12 runs. [Looking ahead to the final ODI] Another performance like that. I've seen, the pitch will probably play similar, day-night game under lights here can get on a bit. So, yeah, I think if we end up bowling first, just do the job with the ball. I guess simple plans like we have executed throughout the series. And then with the bat, we know how good they are at the top with the ball. We know we're in for another big game.

Shai Hope | West Indies captain: You probably have to do this interview two hours later. But it hasn't really sunk in yet. It's been a really good cricket game. If you watch a game like this as a neutral, you're going to be very happy to see it play like this. But, you know, you always want to win, especially when we're trying to automatically qualify for that World Cup. It's going to be very difficult now. But yeah, it was a good game of cricket, I must commend the guys for the fight they showed in the back here. Yeah, it was absolute theater, as you mentioned, if you're a neutral. [On another poor performance from batters] Batting first in the Caribbean is always going to be a challenge, but it's certainly not a 180 type of challenge. I still feel as though you need to apply yourselves a lot better. Still not really understanding and adapting to the conditions as far as we should. I just believe that as elite batters that we want to call ourselves, guys who've been playing for quite some time, still need to show a bit more impetus, especially at the top. We still need to take more responsibility, myself included. But yeah, it's definitely not a 180 surface. Still challenging here at Kensington, as you can see, we still gave New Zealanders a fight. But 180 is not going to be enough when you're playing against the second-best team in the world right now. [On the bowling performance] When you look at the bowlers, I ask them to come and do a job. 180 is not much you can ask the guys to defend, but they always put their hands up. So I must commend them for the fight every single time. Motie is, great to see him back in good form. He's bowling really well. Alzarri is very consistent himself. You know, he bowled a really good spell to bring us back into the game. And yeah, just pretty much we give it to the bowlers for the fight. But again, the batters, we just need to put our hands up. [On Sir Garry Sobers] Thanks again for the support. You know, we always love when they come out and support here at Kensington. It's home for me, and I'm sure I can speak on the other guys' behalf as well. Every time they come to Kensington, they always feel loved, they always feel the vibe. So thank you for the support. Unfortunately, we couldn't get that win for the great man, but hopefully we can turn things around on Tuesday.

17:51 Local Time, 21:51 GMT, 03:21 IST: 3-1 to NZ with a game to spare. Windies fought really hard. They fought tooth and nail. But were pipped at the finish line. NZ were doing well before the rain break but lost a flurry of wickets to be in trouble. It took Santner's calmness with the bat to see his side through. Chapman played an excellent knock to get NZ in a commanding position. But once he fell, Windies found a little window of hope. Motie picked up a fifer for the hosts as well. And made sure the Windies team were in the game. There was a dropped catch as well towards the end. It could have been 2-2 but NZ have managed to clinch the series. They were 0-1 down but have managed to come back in the series with 3 chases.

Review time. Was there bat? The ball hit him in line? Don't think so!