West Indies start the T20 series hoping an unproven batting lineup can fire against a New Zealand side smarting from defeat in the final ODI
The Preview by Karthik Krishnaswamy10-Jan-2014Match factsSaturday, January 11, 2014
19:00 local (06:00 GMT)Dwayne Bravo was West Indies’ highest run-getter and wicket-taker in the ODI series. He will hope others can relieve some of the pressure on his shoulders in the T20 series•Getty Images
Big PictureAfter doing well to level the ODI series with an injury-ravaged team, West Indies will look to end their tour on a high in their favourite format. The game in Auckland is the first of seven T20Is that West Indies will play over the two months leading up to their World T20 title defence. The absence of Chris Gayle, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard and Darren Sammy will give their fringe players an opportunity to stake their claim for the tournament.New Zealand are smarting from defeat in the final ODI. James Neesham, the allrounder, suggested they may have been a touch complacent going into that game. It shouldn’t happen here, considering New Zealand only have these two matches in the format before the World T20, with the period in between seeing them play only 50-over and Test cricket against India. The selectors have chosen their strongest possible squad, and the team will look to target West Indies’ unproven batting lineup.Kieran Powell and Chadwick Walton are yet to make their T20 debuts for West Indies, Andre Fletcher returns to the side after two-and-a-half years and Narsingh Deonarine has an average of 11 from eight matches. With Johnson Charles and Lendl Simmons not boasting particularly stellar records in the format either, their captain Dwayne Bravo might once again come under a lot of pressure. It brought out his best in the ODI series, in which he scored more runs and took more wickets than any of his team-mates, but he will want others to step up as well. It won’t help him that Kirk Edwards, who scored a century in the final ODI, isn’t part of the T20 squad.Two of the four matches in the drawn ODI series featured T20-style hitting. In Queenstown, Corey Anderson and Jesse Ryder went berserk in a match reduced to 21 overs a side, while Edwards and Dwayne Bravo returned the favour in the final ODI in Hamilton. The short boundaries at Eden Park could produce similar scenes in the first of two T20Is, and will leave West Indies in a dilemma over how many spinners they play, although the drop-in pitch produced a low-scoring first ODI.Form guideNew Zealand (last five completed matches) LWWLW
West Indies LLWWWIn the spotlightKieran Powell has played 20 Tests and 24 ODIs for West Indies, but is yet to make his debut in T20 internationals. His 44-ball 73 in the final ODI in Hamilton has shown he is capable of playing T20-style innings. Powell will need to maintain that form if he is to retain his place after Chris Gayle’s return.It isn’t often that you score a 46-ball hundred in the second match of your comeback series from a career-threatening head injury and find yourself overshadowed by someone else. Jesse Ryder, however, will have appreciated the relative anonymity. With the World T20 around the corner, New Zealand will hope Ryder keeps his form going, considering the impact he can have at the top of the order in the shortest format.Team newsNew Zealand have named a 12-man squad, with Adam Milne and the allrounder James Neesham likely to fight it out for the fourth seamer’s spot.New Zealand (probable) 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Jesse Ryder, 3 Brendon McCullum (capt), 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Corey Anderson, 6 Colin Munro, 7 Luke Ronchi, 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Adam Milne/James Neesham, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Mitchell McClenaghanWest Indies will face a difficult call in the spin department, between legspinner Samuel Badree, who has an excellent T20 record, and left-armer Nikita Miller, who picked up a four-for in the final ODI. The presence of the seam-bowling allrounders Dwayne Bravo and Andre Russell, however, might tempt them to play both Badree and Miller in a three-man spin attack with Sunil Narine.West Indies (probable) 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Lendl Simmons, 4 Narsingh Deonarine/Andre Fletcher, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Andre Russell, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Sunil Narine, 9 Nikita Miller, 10 and 11 Samuel Badree/Ravi Rampaul/Tino BestStats and triviaOf the eight tied matches in T20I history, three have involved New Zealand and the West Indies, and two of them were played in Auckland.QuotesLast time we were here, [Darren] Sammy made them look rather inviting, so I think that the whole batting line-up will be eyeing up the straight boundaries here.
“We thought we maybe had the wood on the West Indies a little bit heading into that last game and possibly were a little bit underprepared for what they were going to bring at us. So I think just personal preparation before each game is the key.”