Victory crucial for West Indies in final T20I
After rain played spoilsport on New Year's Day in Mount Maunganui, forcing the abandonment of the second Twenty20 International, New Zealand and West Indies will hope that the final T20I of the three-match series can go ahead without incident.
West Indies, perhaps, will feel the pressure to win more than the home side as they run the risk of returning home without registering a single victory from the tour; New Zealand eased to a comfortable 2-0 win in the Test series, after which the visitors were whitewashed 3-0 in the One-Day Internationals too.
Thereafter, in the first T20I in Nelson, half-centuries from Colin Munro and Glenn Phillips powered New Zealand to 187 for 7, before their bowlers bundled out West Indies for 140. There was a welcome display of grit from the West Indies in the second T20I on Monday (January 1); Munro had blitzed his way to a 23-ball 66, and looked set to notch up his third century in the format, but the West Indies bowlers fought back, inducing a minor collapse to reduce the home side to 102 for 4 after nine overs. The match was set up nicely when a prolonged drizzle forced the umpires to call the match off.
Despite that, New Zealand seem favourites to clinch the series. So far, it’s the home players who have shown up: Munro leads the run-scorers’ charts in the series with 119 runs at 59.50, while Tim Southee and Seth Rance top the wicket-takers list with three wickets each.
The likes of Phillips and Kane Williamson, the captain, have also been in good touch, so much so that Martin Guptill’s string of low scores haven’t been a bother. With Trent Boult, rested for the first two games, set to return to action on Wednesday, the home side will be confident of sealing another series win.
As for West Indies, the shortest format remains their favourite. They can call upon only a few of the side that won them the World T20 in 2016 though, meaning there is a lack of experience in the middle order that might cause problems.
Despite that, they can’t be written off, simply because of their power hitters – the likes of Chris Gayle, Carlos Brathwaite and Andre Fletcher can turn a T20I around single-handedly with their big-hitting. Furthermore, in Samuel Badree, they have an experienced leg-spinner who can cause New Zealand a few issues, provided he can grip the ball amidst all the rain and dew.
Sadly, rain has been forecast for Wednesday as well, and it may well be that it has the final say. West Indies will hope that is not the case.
Teams (from):
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt), Tim Southee, Doug Bracewell, Tom Bruce, Lockie Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Anaru Kitchen, Colin Munro, Glenn Phillips, Seth Rance, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult.
West Indies: Carlos Brathwaite (capt), Samuel Badree, Ronsford Beaton, Rayad Emrit, Andre Fletcher, Chris Gayle, Jason Mohammed, Rovman Powell, Jerome Taylor, Chadwick Walton, Kesrick Williams, Shai Hope, Ashley Nurse.
