New Zealand will be squaring off against West Indies in the final T20I of the three-matches series. After taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series, Kiwis would aim for a clean sweep.
Match Timings: Nov 30, 11:30 AM
Team Preview
The Blackcaps finally broke the losing jinx in T20s at home as they ran out winners in the second T20I against West Indies to win its first T20I series in a year. Glenn Phillips scored the fastest T20I hundred in the Sunday encounter to post 238, the third-highest T20I total by Kiwis. West Indies looked dull from the beginning and lost the match by 72 runs. For the final T20I, New Zealand will rest its skipper Tim Southee, and spinner Mitchell Santner will lead the side for the first time in a shorter format. Ross Taylor and Kyle Jamieson will both also be dropped to prepare for the Test series. On Monday, Kiwis will add Doug Bracewell, Mark Chapman, and Scott Kuggleijn as their replacements.
New Zealand are in its supreme form, and in both games, they outclassed West Indies. In opening T20I, they mastered the chase, and in the next game, the hosts delivered a humiliation to T20 Champions. Devon Conway came out as a huge positive for New Zealand. After impressing in the domestic circuit, Conway scored two fine knocks. In the previous match, he smashed 65 off just 37 balls, and he also led the intense chase in the first game by scoring 29-balls 41. The hosts would avoid any change in the top-order, but they can add either Kuggleijn or Chapman to boost the middle-order. The duo can also provide the bowling option, so Santner would add both in the playing XI. Despite some changes in the squad, New Zealand are still a tough side to beat at home.
Meanwhile, West Indies need to change its approach. In the first game, they collapsed from 55/0 to 58/5 as the top-order batsmen went for hard-hitting, and nobody showed the steady art in a pressure situation. In the second game, the visitors gave Kiwis clear opportunities to find boundaries. In middle-overs, they conceded heavy runs. On a track where boundaries are short, West Indies opted to go with a similar acceleration approach. Hetmyer wasted too many deliveries, and the top-order made the same errors. Pollard-led side handed the T20I cap to Mayers, and the skipper can look bat at another option in the final T20I. The visitors would aim to find a moral victory in this game.
Pitch Report
Bay Oval’s surface is good for batting, and it’s a track where batsmen can enjoy the game due to the short boundaries. We might expect another high-scoring game on Monday. Chasing is always a great idea, but a 200 plus score would be tricky.
Possible XI
New Zealand
Mitchell Santner(C), Doug Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Scott Kuggleijn, Devon Conway, Martin Guptill, Tim Seifert (WK), Glenn Philips, Mitchell Santner, Lockie Ferguson, Ish Sodhi
West Indies
Kieron Pollard (C), Nicholas Pooran (WK), Shimron Hetmyer, Kyle Mayers, Brandon King, Rovman Powell, Keemo Paul, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas, Fabian Allen, Andre Fletcher
Key Players
New Zealand
Devon Conway
Plunket Shield 2020 – M: 4, Runs: 410, Avg: 58.57
This series – 41 (29) & 65 (37)
Glenn Philips
Caribbean T20 League 2020 – M: 11, Runs: 316, Avg: 35.11
This series – 22 (7), 108 (51)
West Indies
Kieron Pollard
Indian T20 League 2020 – M: 16, Runs: 268, SR: 191.42
This series – 75 (37), 28 (15)
Nicholas Pooran
Indian T20 League 2020 – M: 14, Runs: 353, SR: 35.30
