West Indies vs New Zealand: Cricket World Cup live scores, blog

In what could be a very entertaining contest, the big-hitting West Indies will virtually enter the last-chance saloon as they take on an in-form New Zealand outfit in Manchester. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 10:30pm (AEST).

Coming into this game, the West Indies have just a single victory and a washout to show for their five matches. The win game all the way back in Match 2 of the tournament against Pakistan though, and while they have been competitive in other games, their inconsistency to stick to a plan and play good cricket for 100 overs has hurt them.

They came within inches of beating Australia, but were then plastered by England and has 322 chased down in 42 overs by Bangladesh in a bowling performance which, frankly, was abysmal.

Interestingly though, moving to Manchester may suit their big hitting batsmen down to the ground. It’s a reasonably flat track, and there are enough short boundaries to target if they are smart about it.

They weren’t smart against Bangladesh though, hitting to long boundaries more often than not, and the even bigger problem here is that they have to contend with genuine pace of guys like Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson, who have been bowling like they have it on a string so far.

While the Black Caps haven’t been perfect, they have been pretty close, and as a result have four wins and a washout from their five matches.

Their last-start win against South Africa didn’t come without its problems on a difficult pitch, but as the Kiwis have done over the years, they always have someone stand up, with Kane Williamson leading the charge in that chase.

The only real question mark over New Zealand midway through the tournament is that they haven’t actually played a big name yet, with their game against India washed out – in saying that, beating South Africa should address some of those minor concerns.

Prediction
This could be a real cracker. Again, you just don’t know what you’ll get out of the West Indies, but it’s hard to look past the consistency and form of New Zealand, who should

Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this Cricket World Cup contest from 10:30pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.

Game information

First ball: 10:30pm (AEST)
Venue: Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester
TV: Live, Fox Cricket 501
Online: Live, Kayo Sports, Foxtel App, Foxtel Now
Betting: New Zealand $1.55, West Indies $2.41
Overall record: Played 64, West Indies 30, New Zealand 27, no result 7
Umpires: Ruchira Palliyaguruge, Ian Gould

West Indies (squad)
Jason Holder (c), Andre Russell, Ashley Nurse, Carlos Brathwaite, Chris Gayle, Darren Bravo, Evin Lewis, Fabian Allen, Kemar Roach, Nicholas Pooran, Oshane Thomas, Shai Hope, Shannon Gabriel, Sheldon Cottrell, Shimron Hetmyer

New Zealand (squad)
Kane Williamson (c), Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Colin Munro, Tom Blundell, Jimmy Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult