West Indies begin their tour of New Zealand on Wednesday when the two sides meet in the first of five T20 matches in Auckland with the preparation continuing for the upcoming T20 World Cup for both nations.
Although both will be keen to win this series, the overriding aim will be to strengthen their squads for that World Cup which is just over three months away now. That should ensure that we get a competitive opener to proceedings.
New Zealand
New Zealand come into this series off the back of beating England 3-0 in an ODI series but prior to that they were edged out in a rain impacted T20 series with just one of the three matches yielding a result. There is no weather issues for this match so the Kiwis will be looking to take the confidence that they have built up in the ODIs against England into what is a tricky T20 series and looking to really begin to build up a head of steam ahead of the World Cup.
If New Zealand are going to win this series then they are going to need to bowl well. We all know the power that West Indies have within their batting unit so if New Zealand don’t bowl well then they are going to be up against it. They will need to bat well in the early stages of the series because Auckland is a ground which is high scoring but actually against England they generally had enough in their middle order to post scores but that will be irrelevant if they can’t bowl well.
West Indies
West Indies arrive in New Zealand hot off the heels white ball tour of Bangladesh where they won all three T20 matches and won them in the fashion you would expect them with big hitting with the bat and squeezing teams with the ball. This is the format that West Indies look the most comfortable in. It doesn’t always ring true that they win as much as they did a decade or so ago but they still carry the fear factor around with them in this format of the game.
They have the potential to be particularly dangerous in this part of the world where even their mishits are going to go for six. The grounds here are ideal for West Indies’ batters in that they only run one or smack boundaries and there is just about enough in them for their spinners to be effective so they head into the series as favourites to win it. They might need the run though because conditions in Bangladesh, where they were as recently as last Friday, are much different to here.
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Team News
New Zealand begin T20 life without Kane Williamson now after he announced his retirement from this format of the game last week. Mitchell Hay has come into the squad but he might need to wait his turn.
West Indies have brought a strong squad over for this series but they have moved on from the likes of Andre Russell now who retired from this format earlier in the year, as did Nicholas Pooran. Jason Holder and Jayden Seales are in the squad despite largely being considered red ball players.
Betting
This should be a really good series and one where I’m expecting the big hits to fly. That is generally the case when West Indies are in town regardless of where it is that they are playing but when you stick them on a rugby ground then you would expect carnage to ensue, especially on a gorgeous day where the atmospheric conditions aren’t going to go against the batters like they did when England were in this part of the world recently.
I’m not prepared to take West Indies to win this match so soon after they were in Bangladesh, that will come later in the series, but I can’t ignore the 8.5 sixes line that they have here. There is no Matt Henry for New Zealand in this series so that will help the West Indies batting and when you consider that their mishits will go for six straight down the ground and the square boundaries, while longer, certainly aren’t too big for them, I fully expect to see West Indies clear this line regardless of how this match plays out.
Tips
Back West Indies – Over 8.5 sixes for a 3/10 stake at 1.85 with Betway
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