Daijiworld Media Network
Basseterre, St Kitts, Jul 16 : Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the last ODI between West Indies and New Zealand. In the last match itself, the West Indies took the series, which is their first against a top ranked team since April 2008. This match is a dead rubber and the Kiwis will seek a consolation win.
West Indies have won the toss and elected to bat
Andrew Ellis, Daniel Flynn and Kyle Mills replace Jacob Oram, Doug Bracewell and Nathan McCullum. The hosts remain unchanged.
Ross Taylor says that 2-3 looks better than 1-4. He says that New Zealand need to play hard wicket. Oram and Nathan McCullum are out. Kyle Mills had a calf injury in the first game and he has been working very hard in the nets.
Sammy says that he wants to finish this series on a high. He says that the West Indies need to finish the series on a high and that 4-1 is a better scoreline. There are no changes in his team.
Pitch Report: Jeffrey Dujon reckons that there could be some rain later. The pitch used today is the one used for the first game. There is a fair covering of grass. Both teams do have something to play for in this match.
Ottis Gibson: The players put a lot of hardwork. They were coming off a tough series in England but the guys have bounced back well. We will cherish this series win but we need to improve in some areas. The bowling has been a bit inconsistent but the batting has responded to pressure situations. New Zealand will have some fresh faces in the Test side and they will be competitive. We are getting together with the Test squad next week in Antigua. We need to win every match. 4-1 is a better scoreline than 3-2.
Teams:
West Indies (Playing XI): Johnson Charles, Chris Gayle, Dwayne Smith, Marlon Samuels, Dwayne Bravo, Kieron Pollard, Devon Thomas(w), Darren Sammy(c), Andre Russell, Sunil Narine, Tino Best
New Zealand (Playing XI): Rob Nicol, Martin Guptill, Brendon McCullum, Ross Taylor(c), Kane Williamson, Daniel Flynn, Tom Latham(w), Andrew Ellis, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, Trent Boult
Match Preview:
The celebrations in the Windies camp at the fall of Tim Southee's wicket showed as to how much the series win meant for Darren Sammy and his boys. This was Sammy's first ODI series win since taking over as the West Indies captain and his nation's first success since April, 2008. With the series in their bag, the hosts can afford some experimentation while the visitors will look to redeem some pride by winning the final ODI.
West Indies: The hosts have smelt the sweet success of victory and will look to end the series in an emphatic fashion. Saturday's win was more creditable considering the fact that Chris Gayle, their star batsmen failed and yet the team managed to get a decent score on the board. The hosts have found new heroes with the bat in almost every match but it is the all-round efforts that must please the team management. Andre Russell has batted as low as No. 9 and might be considered for a promotion in the batting order.
The bowling has remained consistent right throughout the series. Tino Best made a winning return in the 4th ODI while Sunil Narine has been difficult to get away with. Throw in the all-rounders, West Indies boasts of a wonderful varied attack suitable for all conditions.
New Zealand: The visitors will know that they lost a superb opportunity to draw level when they allowed West Indies to recover from a shaky start and then failed to support their skipper, Ross Taylor in the batting department. Rob Nicol has looked in fine nick before throwing it away while Martin Guptill has failed to get going. The top-order failures have put a lot of pressure on the batsmen to follow and that has resulted in the couple of close losses.
The bowling has been patchy with only Tim Southee and Jacob Oram managing to keep the hosts under leash. With the series gone, John Wright will hope that the team can pull itself up ahead of the 2-match Test series.
Team News: With the series in bag, West Indies might go for some experimentation in both the team as well as the batting order. Lendl Simmons might get a go ahead of Chris Gayle.