Preview: West Indies Take On New Zealand With Hope To Revive World Cup Campaign
The West Indies lost ground when they went down to Bangladesh, while New Zealand are flying high.
Highlights
-
West Indies will hope to fix a derailed World Cup 2019 campaign
-
They will lock horns with New Zealand in Manchester on Saturday
-
West Indies lost rhythm after successful start and suffered three defeats
The West Indies will hope to fix a derailed World Cup 2019 campaign when they lock horns with New Zealand, who have been unbeaten in this edition so far, at Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday. After an impressive start with resounding seven-wicket win over Pakistan, West Indies lost rhythm and suffered three defeats, besides a rain-abandoned match against South Africa. New Zealand, on the other hand, crushed Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and South Africa under their victory juggernaut and now look to reclaim top position in the points table.
The West Indies are currently lying seventh in the 10-team standings with just three points in their kitty and they can't afford any further loss to stay in the mix for a semi-final spot.
The West Indies would be smarting from a string of losses to Bangladesh, including the defeat in their last World Cup game despite posting a big total.
The West Indies posted a huge 321 for eight against Bangladesh, a target which the Tigers chased down in 41.3 overs with seven wickets in hand.
Barring Chris Gayle, the West Indies' batting has started clicking but the performance of their bowlers would be a major cause of concern for skipper Jason Holder.
While Evin Lewis, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer and Holder have been holding the fort with the bat, Gayle and Andre Russell have let down the team badly.
On the bowling front, all the West Indian bowlers looked ordinary and leaked runs against Bangladesh. And the likes of Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel and Oshane Thomas need to pull up their socks before it is too late.
The Kiwis, on the other hand, are sitting pretty at the second spot with nine points, which includes four wins out of five games with the match against India being washed out.
New Zealand have so far defeated Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and South Africa but their real test starts now as after West Indies, they will have three tough encounters against Pakistan, Australia and England.
In their last match against South Africa, skipper Kane Williamson played a match-winning knock of 106 not out to guide New Zealand home in a tense final over finish while chasing a modest 242-run target.
Colin de Grandhomme, who made 60 off 47 besides bowling an economical spell of 1/33, also played a vital role alongside Williamson in that victory. But with tough matches in the offing, Williamson would look for bigger contributions from the likes of Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor and Tom Latham.
Teams (from):
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Tom Blundell, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Colin Munro, James Neesham, Henry Nicholls, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee.
West Indies: Jason Holder (capt), Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Darren Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Shannon Gabriel, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Ashley Nurse, Nicholas Pooran, Kemar Roach, Andre Russell, Oshane Thomas.
The match starts at 6pm (IST).
(With PTI inputs)
New Zealand Cricket Team
West Indies Cricket Team
Old Trafford, Manchester