West Indies aim for improved T20I showing in New Zealand

Overview
New Zealand vs West Indies, 1st T20I
Eden Park, Auckland
Friday, 27 November, 07:00pm local time, 06:00am GMT

West Indies are the defending champions in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup, having won the 2016 edition. However, a lot has changed since then and Windies are now languishing at No.9 in the MRF Tyres ICC Men’s T20I team rankings.

West Indies have an interesting record in New Zealand. They have won just one T20I – claiming a tied match in 2008 in the Super Over - while losing six of the eight games in the country.

West Indies players come off the back of a full-fledged Caribbean Premier League season. Some of their players were also in the Indian Premier League shortly after that. New Zealand players have also been busy with the IPL and the Plunket Shield at home. The short boundaries at Eden Park should keep the big hitters from either side interested. Since the start of 2018, New Zealand and West Indies have hit 246 and 233 sixes respectively in the format.

All eyes will be on Super Smash hero, Devon Conway, who is set to make a debut for New Zealand. The South Africa-born batsman has been plundering runs in the domestic circuit and, if given the chance, will look to carry that form into the international circuit.

West Indies, meanwhile, have some familiar names in the mix. Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard come off the back of great performances in the IPL and will hope to replicate that in New Zealand.

Remember the last time

The last time these two sides met in a T20I game was in 2018 in Mount Maunganui. Colin Munro scored a century to power New Zealand to their highest T20I total of 243. They went on to win by 119 runs, their largest victory margin in the format. The last time New Zealand lost a T20I to West Indies is back in 2014. That said, the sides have only met four times since then in this format with one game in 2018 ending in no result after rain intervened halfway through the first innings.

Although in a different format, neither team will forget their last meeting, which was a thriller in the 2019 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup in Manchester. A staggering century from Carlos Brathwaite went in vain as Windies fell short by five runs in that match.

What they said

Tim Seifert, New Zealand 'keeper-batsman: I could easily go into the Black Caps environment and give my two cents on how we should bowl to Polly [Kieron Pollard, Trinbago Knight Riders teammate] - rightly or wrongly. I think it gives you a great insight of these guys and how they actually do things because they do open up to you because you're in the same team and they want franchise teams to go well.

Andre Fletcher, West Indies batsman: "We'll continue being positive and playing our brand of cricket. It's sometimes tough - winning two T20 World Cups and ranking No.9 in the world is kind of off-balance, but I believe we'll get back up there in the rankings."