Styris, McMillan take Black Caps home

West Indies captain Brian Lara lamented his batsmen8217;s form and an unforgiving tournament schedule after Thursday8217;s seven-wicket loss to New Zealand.

West Indies captain Brian Lara lamented his batsmen8217;s form and an unforgiving tournament schedule after Thursday8217;s seven-wicket loss to New Zealand. The tournament hosts were bowled out for just 177 at Antigua8217;s Sir Vivian Richards Stadium, giving New Zealand the platform for an easy victory with more than 10 overs left.

Having been forced to play two of the first three Super 8 matches 8212; they lost the first to Australia on Wednesday by 103 runs 8212; Lara8217;s team must now play Sri Lanka and South Africa before taking part in two of the last three stage games.

The back-to-back losses mean West Indies are looking at each game as a must-win encounter when the second round has only just started. England, Ireland and Bangladesh haven8217;t even played one Super 8s game yet.

8220;There was always the luxury of losing two games. We didn8217;t want to do that first up,8221; Lara said. 8220;We8217;re down into the fighting part of the tournament. We8217;ve got four games left and we have to win all of them.8221;

Paceman Shane Bond, allrounder Jacob Oram and spinner Daniel Vettori set the platform for New Zealand8217;s victory after their team won the toss and put the hosts in to bat. Each took three wickets, with Oram taking the best return of 3-23.

Only opener Chris Gayle and captain Brian Lara offered meaningful resistance to the Kiwis8217; disciplined bowling. Other than Gayle, who made 44, and Lara 37, no one reached 20.

New Zealand overcame a rocky start to reach 179 for three, losing opener Peter Fulton to the second ball of the innings. Daren Powell then followed his bowling of Fulton by having Hamish Marshall caught for 15.

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The Kiwis were faltering at 36-2, but captain Stephen Fleming and Scott Styris shared a third-wicket stand of 42 to steady their team.

Although Fleming was run out by Lara for 45, Styris and Craig McMillan took few risks and shared an unbeaten fourth-wicket partnership of 102. Styris hit 80 for his 18th one-day half century and McMillan compiled 33.

Batting the overs was what West Indies failed to do for the second straight day. Having been troubled by Australia8217;s Glenn McGrath, Nathan Bracken and Shaun Tait, the batsmen again struggled against pace as New Zealand started their first Super 8 game with Bond and Michael Mason in attack.