Auckland [New Zealand], November 5 : West Indies batter Rovman Powell became just the second player from his team to reach 2,000 T20I runs on Wednesday.

Powell achieved this milestone during the Windies' first T20I against New Zealand at Auckland on Wednesday. During the match, he played a valuable cameo of 33 in 23 balls, with a four and two sixes at 143.47.

Now in 103 T20Is, he has scored 2,010 runs at an average of 26.10 and a strike rate of almost 141, with a century and nine fifties and his best score being 107.

At the top is a now-retired Nicholas Pooran, with 2,275 runs in 106 matches at an average of 26.14, with a strike rate of 136.39, including 13 fifties in 97 innings and a best score of 98.

Coming to the match, NZ put WI to bat first after winning the toss and opting to field first and were struggling at 43/3, when skipper Shai Hope (53 in 39 balls, with four boundaries and three sixes) and Roston Chase (28 in 27 balls, with a four and a six) formed a 54-run stand to offer some stability.

Another 49-run stand for the fifth wicket between Chase and Powell followed, taking WI to 164/6 in 20 overs.

Jacob Duffy (2/19) and Zak Foulkes (2/35) were top wicket-takers for Kiwis, while James Neesham and Kyle Jamieson picked up one each.

During the run-chase, the WI bowling unit unleashed destruction on the Kiwis, particularly Jayden Seales (3/32) and Chase (3/26), not leaving NZ anywhere near them at 107/9. Skipper Mitchell Santner (55 in 28 balls, with eight fours and two sixes) delivered a late-blitz, but NZ was restricted to 157/9 and fell short by seven runs.

Chase got the 'Player of the Match' award.

Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor