Daijiworld Media Network

Lauderhill, Florida, Jun 30 : Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the 2-match T20 series between West Indies and New Zealand played at Lauderhill. West Indies are a strong side and they are bolstered by the addition of Gayle and will be the favorites to win this series. The Kiwis on the other hand are led by Taylor, who didn't have a very good form at IPL and they will have a tough time against this Carribean line-up which is full of T20 specialists.

This is the third T20I played in Lauderhill. New Zealand have featured in all the T20Is here and they will be familiar with the conditions. The games against Sri Lanka in 2009 were played on slower pitches and one hopes that the pitches this time will be more competitive.

New Zealand have won the toss and elected to field

Teams:

New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Rob Nicol, Ross Taylor(c), Kane Williamson, Dean Brownlie, Jacob Oram, Tom Latham(w), Tim Southee, Nathan McCullum, Ronnie Hira, Doug Bracewell

West Indies (Playing XI): Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Johnson Charles, Marlon Samuels, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin(w), Dwayne Bravo, Darren Sammy(c), Samuel Badree, Sunil Narine, Fidel Edwards

With about 3 months to go for the T20 World Cup, these 2 T20s will be more than just an exercise to promote cricket in the United States of America. These are the only T20Is that New Zealand and West Indies will play before the T20 World Cup. Both the Kiwis and West Indians will look at it as practice games and will want to identify the players who are most likely to do well in the ICC event which will take place in Sri Lanka. Though nothing much is expected of the pitches, the spotlight will be firmly on IPL superstars like Chris Gayle, Sunil Narine, Dwayne Smith, Ross Taylor, Kieron Pollard and Dwayne Bravo.

West Indies

In the only T20I that the Darren Sammy led side played in England, the all-rounders proved a point with the bat, but failed with the ball. The team will not read too much into the loss, as they have, arguably, the strongest T20 players in world cricket currently. The exploits of Gayle, Narine, Pollard and Bravo need no special mention and they will be the cynosure of all eyes. The only weak link in the side seems to be the skipper Sammy himself, but knowing how feisty a character he is, it won't come as a surprise if he does well.

New Zealand

Ross Taylor will be leading a comparatively inexperienced and new look side as compared to their opponents. The side will be missing Brendon McCullum and will have to rely on batsmen like Williamson and Nicol who are not exactly well known in the shortest format of the game. Jacob Oram will be the key and the selectors will want him to put in a good showing before the World Cup. Tom Latham, the wicketkeeper, will be making his debut.