Before the World Cup began, New Zealand was considered to be one of the favorites and throughout the league phase, they lived up to it. Not only they won all their matches in Pool A, but also pushed the Aussies to the corner.
They were ruthless in their pursuit and made full use of their home conditions. As the Kiwis get ready for their quarterfinal battle against the unpredictable West Indies, stopping the Chris Gayle storm will be the biggest challenge in Wellington.
New Zealand have never played a World Cup final, but this time, they have the team to change the past. On paper and on the basis of their form in this World Cup, the West Indies are no match to New Zealand. But ruling out the two time world champions will not be a wise decision.
The New Zealand also have the right balance in all departments of the game. Be it batting department, pace department, spin unit or fielding skills, the players under Brendon McCullum are truly in form of their life. Whatever they had done or tried doing has yielded results. It’s just a matter of putting things together again to book the semifinal slot.
As far as the West Indies are concerned, their form in the league phase has been patchy. They have the batting, which can send the best opposition attack on a leather hunt. But consistency has always dampened their chances. They are the team, which always showed came across with lots of promises, but couldn’t end with a flourish.
So, this match will again test the West Indies, who lost their league match to Ireland. It was a real wake-up call for the team. Even New Zealand wouldn’t have lost the match to Ireland. But this is the not any yardstick to measure what the West Indies can eventually do in the last quarterfinal match of the World Cup. We have to wait and watch if there are any surprises in the match or not!
