The West Indies face a must-win situation against a dominating New Zealand in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 at the Old Trafford in Manchester on Saturday.

The West Indies are right now placed at the seventh spot in the ICC World Cup 2019 Points Table with only three points in their kitty and they can’t manage the cost of any further defeat if they fancy their chances to stay relevant in the competition.

The Windies began their World Cup campaign with a blast, decimating Pakistan by seven wickets.

But, from that point onward, things have gone from bad to worse for the Caribbean as they suffered three straight thrashings against Australia, England and Bangladesh while the game against South Africa was washed out due to rain.

For West Indies, the loss against Bangladesh in spite of posting a total of 321 runs well might be the major upset in the tournament. Even Chris Gayle, the hard-hitting opener has failed to deliver while the rest of the West Indies’ batting has begun clicking. Still, the performance of their bowlers would be a reason for worry for captain Jason Holder.

While Evin Lewis, Shai Hope, Shimron Hetmyer and Holder have been holding the post with the bat, Gayle and Andre Russell have let down the group seriously.

On the bowling front, all the West Indian bowlers looked ineffective and spilt runs by dozens against Bangladesh.

The Kiwis, on the other hand, are doing very well at the second spot with nine points which incorporate four successes out of five encounters with the match against India being washed out.

New Zealand have so far crushed Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and South Africa. However, their genuine test begins now as after West Indies, they will have three intense matches against Pakistan, Australia and England.

In their last match against South Africa, captain Kane Williamson played match-winning innings of 106 not out to steer New Zealand home while chasing a target of 242 runs.

Colin de Grandhomme, who made 60 off 47, other than bowling an affordable spell of 1/33, additionally assumed a crucial role in that triumph.

However, with challenging games ahead, Williamson would search for greater commitments from Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Ross Taylor and Tom Latham- the players who have been proven match winners at this level.

Expect nothing less than a delightful Saturday evening.

The teams meet at the Old Trafford, Manchester while the action begins 6 pm (IST) onwards.

Squads:

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

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