West Indies clash with New Zealand in the Cricket World Cup at Old Trafford on Saturday and the Black Caps come into the game unbeaten and closing in on a semi final place.
West Indies:
West Indies lost a crucial game to Bangladesh in their most recent outing, a bitterly disappointing 7 wicket defeat at Taunton which leaves their chances of reaching the semi finals best described as remote.
Batting first West Indies posted 321/8 with Shai Hope top scoring with 96, Evin Lewis made 70 and Shimron Hetmyer 50. WIndies were favourites at that stage but Bangladesh made short work of the chase which was completed in just 41.3 overs.
That defeat leaves West Indies without a win since their opening match when they beat Pakistan by 7 wickets. Other subsequent results include a 14 run defeat to Australia, an abandoned game against South Africa and an 8 wicket defeat to England.
Shai Hope is leading run scorer for West Indies with 186, Nicholas Pooran has made 162 and Shimron Hetmyer has 117. Oshane Thomas is leading wicket taker for West Indies with 7, Sheldon Cottrell and Andre Russell both have 5.
This is how West Indies lined up against Bangladesh last time out.
Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope (wk), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder (capt), Andre Russell, Daren Bravo, Shannon Gabriel, Sheldon Cottrell, Oshane Thomas
New Zealand:
New Zealand were in action against South Africa in Birmingham on Wednesday and they came through a tight contest with a 4 wicket win to give them an overall record of 4 wins and 1 no result.
After a rain delay which saw the game reduced to 49 overs per side the Black Caps won the toss and opted to bowl and they restricted South Africa to 241/6 with Lockie Ferguson taking 3 wickets. The chase was held together by Kane Williamson who finished unbeaten on 106 and the necessary acceleration came from Colin de Grandhomme (60 off 47 balls) and New Zealand got up with just 3 balls to spare.
In earlier results New Zealand dished out a 10 wicket hiding to Sri Lanka and then completed a 2 wicket victory over Bangladesh. After a comfortable 7 wicket win over Afghanistan their scheduled meeting with India was completely washed out
New Zealand can be backed at around 13/2 to win the tournament and 7/4 to reach the final.
Kane Williamson is top run scorer for New Zealand with 225, Martin Guptill has 133 and Ross Taylor 131. With the ball Lockie Ferguson has taken 11 wickets, Matt Henry has 7 and James Neesham has 6.
This was how New Zealand lined up against South Africa last time out.
Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (capt), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wk), James Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
Head to Head
The teams have met 64 times with West Indies winning 30, New Zealand have won 27 with 7 no results
The most recent head to heads came in New Zealand in December 2017 and the Black caps completed a 3-0 clean sweep.
The Betting, Click here for all markets
West Indies 5/4
New Zealand 4/6
Note prices quoted are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change.
Verdict:
West Indies looked very dispirited as the Bangladesh game began to drift away from them and especially so their bowlers who have gone off the boil since demolishing Pakistan in their first match. With that in mind we lead with New Zealand to hit 5 or more sixes in their innings, a target that looks achievable on a ground where Eoin Morgan hit 17 of his own earlier this week.
Additional interest comes in the highest individual score market and any batsman to score 105 or more looks on in what could be a high scoring game.
Suggested Bets:
Highest Individual Score , Over 104.5 at 9/10
Team Total Match Sixes, New Zealand Over 4.5 at 9/10
Click here for all CWC markets.
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