🏏ICC T20I WC 2024: Match 26: WI vs NZ,Trinidad @6am IST🏏 - Page 3

West Indies on the other hand have run through Uganda and Papua New Guinea. Their batting has been a bit scratchy but their bowling has been top notch. Most of their bowlers have hit the right straps but they haven't been tested by the best of batters. Windies might have to be on top of their game today. Because NZ for sure will come hard at them. These are different territories for the Kiwis and we shall wait to see them swim or drown in the next few hours.

The fielding when it comes to New Zealand is top notch. But they let go of about half-a-dozen chances in the first 10 overs of the game against Afghanistan. They were sloppy on the field. That let the opposition openers to go off the hook and they made the Kiwis pay. Then Rashid Khan spelt doom and ran through the middle order to bundle out the NZ unit. The NRR has taken a massive beating as well. So, NZ not only need wins from here on. They need handsome ones as well to stay afloat.

NZ  won the toss and opted to bowl first. 

New Zealand have won the toss and have opted to field

Three changes for NZ - Southee in for Henry, Neesham in for Bracewell and Rachin in for Chapman.

Teams:

New Zealand XI: Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Kane Williamson, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

West Indies XI: Brandon King, Johnson Charles, Nicholas Pooran (wk), Roston Chase, Rovman Powell (c), Sherfane Rutherford, Andre Russell, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie

Time for the toss. Powell and Williamson are out in the middle. Powell has the coin and he gives it a twirl. Tails is the call, and tails it is. New Zealand will bowl first. Says there are a few unknowns with regards to the surface and hence they want to bowl first. Adds that it was a tough match first up and that there were learnings from it. Tonight is about committing to who they are. Three changes for NZ - Southee in for Henry, Neesham in for Bracewell and Rachin in for Chapman.

Rovman Powell: Doesn't matter if we are batting or bowling, but if we had won the toss, we would have liked to bowl first as well. The guys are coming in on the back of a lot of cricket, the guys need rest too and the inclement weather helped. To keep on improving in all three areas, as a batting group we have some boxes to tick and as a bowling group, if we can control the powerplay as we did in the last game, that would be great. Same team.

Kane Williamson: We will have a bowl. Few unknowns about the surface so bowling first. [on if they practiced here in the lead-up to this game] Not much to be honest, there's a bit of weather around. Tough first match but we have got to regroup. Southee in for Henry, Neesham in for Bracewell and Ravindra in for Chapman. New venue, new team.

West Indies (Playing XI): Brandon King, Johnson Charles, Nicholas Pooran(w), Roston Chase, Rovman Powell(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Andre Russell, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie

New Zealand (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Devon Conway(w), Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

Pitch Report: Quite pleasant, says Simon Doull about the weather. 10kph wind, with 65m and 67m square boundaries. 74m hit straight down the ground. There was torrential rainfall yesterday but the ground staff have done very well to get it in pristine shape. The pitch has been re-laid so a bit of uncertainty. There could be some variable bounce and variable pace, and it could be a challenge for the batters, although Samuel Badree feels the West Indies could get up to the 180-run mark.

Teams:

West Indies (Playing XI): Brandon King, Johnson Charles, Nicholas Pooran(w), Roston Chase, Rovman Powell(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Andre Russell, Romario Shepherd, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie

New Zealand (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Devon Conway(w), Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

Simon Doull and Samuel Badree @ Pitch report: 65 metres and 67 metres on the sides and 74 metres straight. Some of the pockets are bigger. The wind is around 10 km/hr. Recently relaid surface. Historically, the average runs scored is 162. It has been one of the lowest scoring venues. An element of patchiness on the pitch, some grass and some bare areas, that tells us there will be variable bounce, says Badree.

Rovman Powell: Doesn't matter if we are batting or bowling, but if we had won the toss, we would have liked to bowl first as well. The guys are coming in on the back of a lot of cricket, the guys need rest too and the inclement weather helped. To keep on improving in all three areas, as a batting group we have some boxes to tick and as a bowling group, if we can control the powerplay as we did in the last game, that would be great. Same team.