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The first T20I match between West Indies and New Zealand will be played at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday. Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui will play host to the remaining two T20Is in the series.
The second group of West Indian players who were in isolation have completed their COVID-19 tests and joined the rest of the team at Auckland on Thursday before the first T20I.
As we gear up for the much-awaited T20I clash between these two sides, let us check out three players to watch out for from the West Indies and New Zealand squads.
Three players to watch out for in New Zealand and West Indies squads
NEW ZEALAND
Ross Taylor
The veteran batsman leads all the T20I batting charts for New Zealand against the West Indies. He has scored 254 runs from 8 innings at a strike rate of 121.53 against the visitors. He also has two fifty-plus scores in the eight times he has batted against them.
Ross Taylor will be important in the relatively inexperienced middle-order of the New Zealand side set to face off against the West Indies.
Tim Seifert
The wicket-keeper batsman has been lauded for his exploits so far in T20 cricket. He has scored 457 runs in 24 T20Is at an explosive strike rate touching almost 140. In the T20s he has played in 2020, he has an average of over 31, which is quite impressive in the format.
The last T20I international series was against India for Seifert, in which he scored 141 runs in 5 innings at 142.42.
Lockie Ferguson
Lockie Ferguson has 14 wickets from 8 T20 international matches so far. He was quite impressive in the recently concluded IPL as well, picking up 6 wickets from 5 matches for Kolkata Knight Riders. He started the tournament late but really cranked up the pace and troubled batsmen.
Ferguson can really trouble the West Indies batsmen if he can his IPL 2020 pace on New Zealand pitches.
Check out: New Zealand's probable playing XI
WEST INDIES
Andre Fletcher
Spiceman Andre Fletcher is coming back to the side after a gap of two years, but he is going to be important at the top of the order. He has the most runs against New Zealand in the current West Indies squad, with 250 runs from 6 innings at 121.35.
He also had a decent CPL where he scored 211 runs at 127.9 for St Lucia Zouks.
Nicholas Pooran
The explosive left-hander from Trinidad set the IPL stage on fire with his big-hitting ability. He scored 353 runs at a strike rate of almost 170 runs per 100 balls. With 25 maximums, he finished third in the list of batsmen with most sixes in the season.
Shimron Hetmyer, Nicholas Pooran and Kieron Pollard will make up a powerful middle-order for the West Indies.
Sheldon Cottrell
The left-hand pace bowler has picked up 36 wickets from 27 T20Is so far. He started the IPL decently as well but lost it a bit towards the middle. And Cottrell couldn’t come back to the eleven in the latter half of the tournament.
Sheldon Cottrell could be really handy in New Zealand conditions with his ability to bring the ball back into the right-hander from over the stumps.
Check out: West Indies' probable playing XI
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