The New Zealand team is currently stationed in West Indies and is scheduled to play 3 T20Is and 3 ODIs as a part of their Caribbean trip. Cricketing teams all over the world are busy playing white-ball cricket to put their plans in place before the all-important T20I World Cup which is scheduled to be played in Australia later this year. Before this, West Indies faced India in their backyard but could not put up a promising show. India clinched the ODI series 3-0 and rubbed salt into their wounds by inflicting a 4-1 loss in the T20I series.
The two-time T20I world champions who are being led by wicketkeeper-batsman Nicholas Pooran currently have loads of issues at their disposal and will want to find a solution to each one of them before they head into the T20I World Cup. The Caribbean team did not have a great start to their T20I series against New Zealand either. Their batting and bowling looked all over the place and they ended up losing the match by a margin of 13 runs.
The only positive takeaway for West Indies was the Martin Guptill catch that Shimron Hetmyer grabbed. In a gravity-defying act, he caught an absolute screamer as he plucked the ball out of the air in the first T20I that was being played at the Sabina Park Sta, Kingston, Jamaica. West Indies won the toss and opted to field. Martin Guptill and Devon Conway started the New Zealand innings with an aggressive approach as off to a flyer. New Zealand opener Guptill was trying to go after everything and that is when he mistimed a shot off Odean Smith's bowling which ended up in Shimron Hetmyer's hands.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
Teams
West Indies Playing XI: Kyle Mayers, Shamarh Brooks, Devon Thomas(w), Nicholas Pooran(c), Shimron Hetmyer, Rovman Powell, Odean Smith, Jason Holder, Romario Shepherd, Obed McCoy, Hayden Walsh
New Zealand Playing XI: Martin Guptill, Devon Conway(w), Kane Williamson(c), Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
