Martin Guptill, Devon Conway, Tom Latham and Daryl Mitchell (Pooran dropped on 23 off Cariah’s bowling) compiled vital fifties to power New Zealand to a five-wicket win in the third ODI against the West Indies in Barbados.
James Neesham also made a useful contribution, cracking a quickfire 11-ball unbeaten 34 to take the visitors past the total of 307 in the 48th over.
Jason Holder was the best of the West Indies bowlers with 2-37.
After losing the ODI series decider to New Zealand, West Indies have now been fined 40 percent of their match fees for maintaining a slow over-rate.
Pooran pleaded guilty to the offense and accepted the proposed sanction, so there was no need for a formal hearing.
On-field umpires Joel Wilson and Leslie Reifer, third umpire Gregory Brathwaite and fourth umpire Nigel Duguid leveled the charge.
West Indies Pushed into batting first, Mayers made 105 off 111 balls while Pooran made a quick-fire 91 off 55 balls as West Indies made 301-8 in their 50 overs.
New Zealand won its first bilateral series in the Caribbean in 37 years. They got a good score on the board but were easily beaten by the Kiwis.
The wet ball and conditions didn’t help, but neither did the hosts’ fielding, which was poor.
“Tough one. 300-plus on that wicket felt good. One or two wickets more in the Powerplay would have helped but they played well,” he said.
“When it (the ball) got wet, we saw how tough it got.”
He also addressed the West Indies’ slow start to their innings wherein they scored only 24 runs from the first 10 overs.
“In hindsight, everyone will talk about starting slow,” Pooran said. “But we had discussed not giving away wickets to Boult and Southee and capitalize.
“But they are a top team. I do believe we have a special bunch of guys and have no doubt we will get better with experience. It was difficult with the ball once it got wet. We let go of the chance of winning the second and this happened. We won the first, lost the second and we came here, committed and fought. We will learn and have better ways.”
Brief scores: West Indies 301/8 in 50 overs (Kyle Mayers 105, Nicholas Pooran 91; Trent Boult 3-53) lost to New Zealand 307/5 in 47.1 overs (Tom Latham 69, Daryl Mitchell 63; Jason Holder 2-37) by five wickets.