West Indies vs New Zealand – ICC World T20 Super Eights – Match Preview
An intriguing final round of Super Eights matches pits West Indies against New Zealand at the Pallekele International Stadium, today, October 1, 2012, with both sides desperately in need of a win to stay in contention for the semi-final stage of the ongoing http://www.senore.com/Cricket/ICC-World-Cup-2011-c100625 World T20.
The reality of the situation is unknown to either camp, with both relying on other results to fall in their favour. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 suffered back to back defeats, and the only way they will compete in the next round is by winning their upcoming match, and hope that Sri Lanka maintain their impressive run and beat the defending champions by a fair margin.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760, on the other hand, also need a victory and hope that England loses in order to avoid the agony of being terminated from the event due to a poor net-run rate. Their current net run-rate of -0.621 is considerably poor that that of the Kiwis (-0.268) and Poms (-0.115), but a good win will surely keep them in good space.
For now, their immediate task is to assure a win, and then see how the match between http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758 and England pan out.
New Zealand will need to find a right balance at the top. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MJ-Guptill-c1980 to compliment him with his neat stroke play.
Also the middle-order combination will need to addressed, as barring from http://www.senore.com/Cricket/LRPL-Taylor-c1849, who himself is going through a barren run, the team does not have enough quality to make efficient use of the middle-overs.
A few changes therefore, could be on offer, especially after some of their players battled gastro virus in the previous days. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Doug-Bracewell-c1394 to retain his place.
West Indies hopes are pinned on http://www.senore.com/Cricket/CH-Gayle-c1221 as his occasional failure at the top comes with consequences. He takes time to settle and if he gets out, that puts added pressure on the remaining line-up, which is contained with host of all-rounders, all of whom could misfire on any given day.
However, the reliability of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/KA-Pollard-c1754, will quickly need to start performing if the Windies have a realistic chance of keeping their tag of favourite intact.
The bowling department also pose dilemma, given the inconsistency of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013, has already been questioned, and it is likely that the spinner will return to side, given the frailties of the Kiwi batters against spin.
The track at Pallekele has finally offered some assistance to the spinners, and one expects that to hold true in today’s game. Rain is forecasted for today.
Tags: