As the West Indies defeated New Zealand in the T20 World Cup's 26th match, Caribbean players Sherfane Rutherford and Gudakesh Motie made it to the highest 10th wicket partnership club in the history of the limited overs mega tournament.
The match, during which the Kiwis suffered a loss by just 13 runs, took place at the Brian Lara Cricket Academy in Trinidad.
The middle-order batter Rutherford and slow-left arm bowler Motie contributed to their team's total score of 149 for nine wickets with their partnership of 37* runs.
Both cricketers managed to beat the partnership record of 34* held by Fred Klaassen and Paul van Meereken of the Netherlands, which was against Bangladesh in 2022.
Meanwhile, Rutherford individually scored 68 off 38 balls and Motie played a single ball in the partnership, defending against Trent Boult, which helped Sherfane score runs and gradually get Daryl Mitchell and Mitch Santher out.
This commendable performance by the West Indies shifted the team from 30-5 to 149-9 within 20 overs. Rutherford won the Man of the Match award for his performance comprising two fours and six sixes in the first innings.
West Indies will now be playing their next match against Afghanistan on Tuesday (June 18) at the Daren Sammy National Cricket Stadium, Gros Islet, St Lucia.
Several other players, on the other hand, are a part of the highest 10th wicket partnership league, including Barry McCarthy and Josh Little of Ireland, both of whom made 32* against Zimbabwe in 2022.
They joined the club by beating the partnership record of 23* held by Max O'Dowd and Roelof van der Merwe of the Netherlands against Sri Lanka in 2022 as well as the 22* run partnership between Shariz Ahmad and Paul van Meekeren of Netherlands against India in 2022 only.
