New Zealand vs West Indies, ICC Cricket World Cup 2019, Today Match Prediction 28 May 2019

nz vs windies Match Prediction & Analysis

In the 9th warm-up game before the start of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 last event’s runners-up, New Zealand would be taking on West Indies at County Ground, Bristol. In their first warm-up game against India, the Kiwis had won it convincingly and would look to give final shape to their plans. As for the West Indies, their game against South Africa was called off after only 13 overs were bowled not allowing the side to test its batting. 

In recent years, New Zealand has enjoyed success against the West Indians have won the last four out of five games between the two sides. West Indies had a poor show at the tri-series in Ireland and it would be interesting to see if the side with its full-strength is able to win this one and go into the tournament with confidence. 

TEAMS PREVIEW

New Zealand Preview

Kane Williamson will be happy with the way his fast bowlers bowled in the last game against India. The victory coming against one of the top-rated batting line-ups in the world would have given the side lot of confidence. As they take on the West Indian side in the next game they would be looking to give other players a good test before the start of the league games.  

Martin Guptil, Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor did well in the last game and this would lift up the spirits in the Kiwi camp. These are the batsmen that the side is pinning its hopes on to help them perform well in the tournament. The likes of Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls and Tom Blundell will look forward to gaining some form in the next game as there wasn’t much to be done in the last game. 

Trent Boult blasted the Indian batting line-up in the last game. His new ball partner Tim Southee also bowled well. James Neesham impressed everyone and Colin de Grandhomme bowled a miserly spell in the last game. They have a good bowling attack going into this game. 

New Zealand Predicted Playing XI:

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

West Indies Preview

Skipper Jason Holder would be eager to make a bold statement in this game after their last game against South Africa was washed away by rain. The team has been inconsistent in the last two series they have played. But with some of their big names back in the squad the side would be looking to win this one and try their plans for before the start of the tournament. 

The Top 3 looks very good for the side with Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis back in the squad. Shai Hope has been in brilliant form and with hitters like Shimron Hetmyer, Andre Russell, and Jason Holder in the line-up they can tear apart any bowling attack. It would be interesting to see how they approach batting and whether they are able to mix caution with aggression.  

They have an impressive bowling line-up being led by Jason Holder. Sheldon Cottrell and Shannon Gabriel can also generate good pace and test batsmen on these kinds of wickets. It will be interesting to see how Ashley Nurse and Andre Russell perform in the middle overs as they will need to bowl tight spells. 

West Indies Predicted Playing XI:

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

Weather Conditions

There are predictions for rain at Bristol on May 28 and the chance of a full game is highly unlikely. The pitch has soaked in a lot of moisture and this will make the conditions difficult to bat on in this game. Being a practice game both the teams would be eager to put their batting strength to test on a difficult wicket.  

Venue

County Ground, Bristol has witnessed several high scoring games in the recent past. The shorter boundaries in the venue make it easy for the batsmen to hit through the line. The pitch generally behaves well and bowlers who are willing to pitch the ball up have also got a good bargain from the track.  

Toss: To Bowl

With predictions for rain, the pitch isn’t expected to be the best one to bat on. There is some grass cover on this surface which the fast bowlers would like to exploit. The side winning the toss would definitely want to bowl first on this surface and pick early wickets.