Racing
League
Rugby
Football
Cricket
Golf
Sport Nation
Olympics
Motorsport
Netball
Combat Sports
Basketball
Other Sports
Stand-out Blackcaps spinner Lennox thrives in West Indies
Jaxin Daniels • July 21st, 2026 12:24 pm
Jayden Lennox | Photo: Photosport
The Blackcaps have sealed a series win over the West Indies after surviving a one-wicket thriller in Barbados, with bowler Jayden Lennox playing an unlikely late hand alongside captain Mitch Santner.
Santner got New Zealand home, but Lennox’s nought from 10 balls proved vital as he survived at the other end in the closing stages.
Talking to Sport Nation Mornings, the bowler was asked whether it was the best nought of his career.
“Yeah, I suppose it's the most meaningful nought that's for sure,” he said. "It was just a game of survival for me."
Lennox said Santner kept the message simple when he arrived in the middle.
“I kept asking him what the plan was and he kind of just said you just stay down there, and I'll do the rest more or less,” Lennox said.
“He's a very cool, calm and collected sort of character and he certainly doesn't over complicate the game.”
The finish featured a major scare when Santner skied the ball with three runs needed, only for West Indies fielders to collide while attempting the catch.
“It was absolute carnage,” Lennox said.
“I think every single player from the West Indies side was sprawled across the ground and yelling and smashing the ground and all that kind of carry on.”
Lennox has also been one of New Zealand’s key performers with the ball, taking 11 wickets across the four games, including five for 19 in the second match in Guyana.
He now has the most wickets in a two-team series by a New Zealand spin bowler.
“I think I'd be lying if I said the conditions didn't suit me to be honest,” he said.
“I kind of have a little bit of a template about how to bowl on surfaces like Guyana.”
Lennox said his approach had been to avoid overcomplicating things.
“For me, it's just keeping the game as simple as I can and making sure that I try and put the ball in the right area and let the surface do its thing for me.”
He said the wickets in the Caribbean had produced a different type of cricket to what many fans might've expected, favouring bowlers over the power hitting game fans have become accustomed to.
Lennox also credited the Blackcaps environment for helping newer players feel comfortable at international level.
“New Zealand Cricket has managed to create an environment where people can come in from domestic cricket and feel at home.”
“If you can feel like you belong and there's not too many nerves and that kind of thing and you can go out there and put your best foot forward is how you're going to get the best out of guys that come into the environment.”
With one match still to play in Barbados, Lennox said New Zealand were still chasing another win.
“We've certainly got our eyes on a 4-1 at the moment,” he said. “So yeah, one more to go tomorrow.”
Listen to the full interview below:
<iframe data-testid="embed-iframe" style="border-radius:12px" src="https://open.spotify.com/embed/episode/6ZVIBFEUlAunUVIRZbjKMN?utm_source=generator&si=5665e9cd696d47c3" width="100%" height="152" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" loading="lazy"></iframe>
