CWC’19: Key players to watch in West Indies-New Zealand clash

New Delhi: Invincible New Zealand in the ongoing ICC Cricket World Cup will look to continue their winning streak against West Indies on Saturday.

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.

New Zealand has not won the World Cup ever but the current team have the potential to lift their maiden title. They are also the runner ups of the previous edition of the tournament.

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.

Although West Indies had defeated New Zealand earlier in the World Cup warm-up fixture when Windies scored the mammoth total of 421. It will be interesting to see who will gain the two points.

Here are the key players to look for in West Indies-New Zealand match:

Kane Williamson

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. In the two World Cup warm-up matches, Williamson hit well-compiled 67 to beat India and scored 85 runs against West Indies in the second practice game.

Ross Taylor

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. The 35-year-old hit 54, 90 and 137 against Sri Lanka early this year. During India tour of New Zealand, Taylor smashed 93 in the third match. The right-hander scored 71 against India in a World Cup warm-up match. Taylor played a knock of 82 runs against Bangladesh in a World Cup match.

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. The left-hander has featured in 293 ODIs and has 10,000 plus runs under his belt. Gayle scored 135, 50, 162, 77 against England in the five-match ODI series, excluding the third match, which was abandoned, earlier this year. 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

The Jamaican all-rounder has the potential to pick from wherever and drag West Indies to post a challenging target single-handedly. Russell displayed his steady form in the recent Indian Premier League (IPL). 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.

Trent Boult

Boult had finished the 2015 edition as the tournament’s joint-highest wicket-taker. He has become one of the most successful fast bowlers of New Zealand. 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.

[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]