Invincible New Zealand in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup will look to continue their winning streak against West Indies today at Old Trafford, Manchester. Kiwis in their five matches so far clinched victory in four games while their clash with India was washed out due to rain. They are currently at the number two position on tournaments standing with nine points.
On the other hand, Windies are finding their way to the semi-finals as they are currently at the seventh position of the points table. The Carribean team is only able to register to win against Pakistan in their opening match. In their last match, Bangladesh outclassed them as they won by seven wickets.
New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson has become a guiding force of his team lately. In-form Williamson had scored 106 run knocks against South Africa. The 28-year-old has 225 runs under his belt in the ongoing tournament. Ross Taylor is the seventh Kiwi cricketer to play in his fourth and last World Cup. New Zealand depends mostly on Taylor if their top-order fails to give a good kick-start. Trent Boult has picked up 21 wickets so far this year in bi-lateral series, including a five against India, three-wicket haul against both India and Bangladesh. During the World Cup warm-up matches, he returned with four scalps against both India and West Indies.
Chris Gayle, the 39-year-old big hitter is playing his last World Cup. Gayle is a promising in-form batsman to give a brilliant start to his team in the top-order. He scored a fifty off just 34 balls against Pakistan in their World Cup opener and has scored a quickfire knock of 21 runs against Australia. Andre Russell has the potential to pick from wherever and drag West Indies to post a challenging target single-handedly. In the World Cup warm-up fixture against New Zealand, Russell smashed a 25-ball 54 in the lower middle-order to take West Indies to 421. In the first World Cup match, Russell returned with figures of 2-4 against Pakistan.
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