After three consecutive losses, a desperate West Indies side will be hoping to turn things around when they go up against an upbeat New Zealand side on June 22. The 29th match of the ICC Cricket World Cup will be played at the Old Trafford in Manchester and live telecast is scheduled to begin at 6:00 PM IST.
West Indies have failed to combine as a team and produce match-winning results in their last few matches. Despite registering a par score of 321/8, Bangladesh chased down the total with 8.3 overs to spare as the bowlers failed to find their right lengths. Their senior players, Chris Gayle and Andre Russell haven’t produced any performance of note, putting the lesser experienced middle order under further pressure. As the race to the semi-finals stiffens, Jason Holder’s men will need to put up a disciplined effort to rise against their dipping form and script a turnaround.
Player To Watch Out For – Chris Gayle
New Zealand has been on a roll this year in the 50-over format, winning 11 out of their 15 matches including the last 7 on the trot. They are sitting pretty at the pole position on the CWC 2019 leader board with four wins and a washout from five games. The Black Caps secured a hard-fought four-wicket win over South Africa in their last match in Birmingham which was reduced to 49 overs per side. The victory was mainly set up by their bowlers who restricted the Proteas to a sub-par total of 241. Each of their three all-rounders, Jimmy Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, and Mitchell Santner have performed on either front, contributing to a formidable balance.
Player To Watch Out For – Kane Williamson
Pitch Report
The wicket has looked pretty flat in both the matches that have been played at the Old Trafford in this World Cup and the side batting first has won quite comfortably on both the occasions. There won’t be many swings on offer for the seamers and they will have to rely on pace variations alone.
Probable Line Ups
West Indies – Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope (wk), Darren Bravo/Carlos Brathwaite, Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Jason Holder (c), Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, Shannon Gabriel.
New Zealand – Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wk), James Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.
MY PLAYERZPOT XI
PlayerzPot Prediction
The Kiwis certainly have the upper hand when it comes to head-to-head record and they will also be carrying plenty of momentum with them having won their last seven ODIs in a row.
