World T20 preview: NZ need a big win against WI to go through

Pallekele (Sri Lanka): As one more defeat will ensure their exit from the tournament, New Zealand need nothing less than a big win against the West Indies in their make-or-break Super Eight match of the ICC World Twenty20 today. Two defeats in a row have brought New Zealand to this position, where a loss will mean sure exit. But a win alone will not help the cause of the Kiwis and they will have to win with a big margin and hope that England lose their last match which will be played later today. With that result, Sri Lanka will be through to the semifinals and the other three teams — New Zealand, West Indies and England — will be equal on two points each. [caption id=“attachment_474973” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  New Zealand need nothing less than a big win against the West Indies. AFP[/caption] The Net-Run-Rate then will come into play and the team with better run-rate will advance along with the hosts. West Indies have a cushion of one win under their belt and one more victory would keep them in the semifinal hunt. A win for the West Indies along with English loss will push the Caribbean side and the hosts to the semifinals. The Kiwi batsmen have performed consistently but their bowling has been a cause of concern. Despite making some competitive scores they failed to defend those totals. The defeat via Eliminator against Sri Lanka in the first Super Eight match came after scoring a very challenging 174 for seven. West Indies too rely heavily on their batting and it has been a roller-coaster ride for the Caribbean side in the tournament so far. They have done exceedingly well before suffering a crushing nine-wicket defeat on Saturday. Key for the Kiwis here would be to target the West Indies top order. It happened against Sri Lanka when the explosive Chris Gayle failed to get going and all of West Indies struggled. Kiwi spinners will also have to play an important role if they aspire to remain alive in the competition. Brendon McCullum and Gayle are the batsmen to watch out for and their performance will play a crucial role in the fortunes of the two teams. Teams New Zealand: Ross Taylor (c), Doug Bracewell, James Franklin, Martin Guptill, Ronnie Hira, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Kyle Mills, Adam Milne, Rob Nicol, Jacob Oram, Tim Southee, Daniel Vettori, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson. West Indies: Darren Sammy (c), Dwayne Bravo, Samuel Badree, Darren Bravo, Johnson Charles, Fidel Edwards, Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Marlon Samuels, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith. PTI