They are back to the format that they are most comfortable with and this gives the West Indies the edge when they play their first Twenty20 clash against New Zealand at Windsor Park in Dominica today.Despite the fact that the World Cup football has taken over all sporting interest, surprisingly the fans in this tiny mountainous Caribbean country are very excited to see cricket play at the venue.Ticket sales have been going very well from all reports and talk on the streets here is that the West Indies will defeat the visitors.The match which bowls off at 2 pm will be historic in that it will be the first ever International T20 match played at this venue.The T20 big boys led by West Indies led by captain Darren Sammy, Kieron Pollard, Lendl Simmons and Krishmar Santokie are all in the squad. The situation looks even more menacing for the Kiwis with the fact that the man who led the Kolkata Knight Riders to the Indian Premier League (IPL) title, Sunil Narine is again twirling his fingers for the West Indies. The list goes on and on, as there are eight IPL players on the home team and they are almost up to full strength with only the rested Chris Gayle and the injured Dwayne Bravo missing out.
New Zealand, on the other hand, opted not to bring in their specialist T20 players and only those who play both the T20 and Test formats are in their ranks. Their captain Brendon McCullum plays for the Chennai Super Kings, Corey Anderson their trump card plays for the Mumbai Indians, Tim Southee for Rajasthan Royals and Ross Taylor has been turning out for the Delhi Dare Devils these days. Apart from these players the team lacks much experience in T20 cricket and this could prove to be a telling factor.Prolific middle order batsman Kane Williamson who was named player of the series in the Test series said: "It can be a challenge when you spend so much time away from home and you get close to leaving, but the guys are all focused on these two T20s and they want to enjoy them and it would be great to come away with some wins.
"We are always backing ourselves. We know the West Indies are one of the best teams in the world, if not the best team in the world, at this format so we know it will be a good challenge."
A look at the pitch and a glance at its history indicates that the spinners will be lining up to bowl, as they will get assistance. The weather forecast suggests that the matches this weekend (the other being tomorrow) will not be affected by the elements, so all is planned for a great party in Dominica.
Teams
West Indies: Darren Sammy (c), Samuel Badree, Christopher Barnwell, Darren Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Fletcher, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Krishmar Santokie, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith.
New Zealand: Brendon McCullum (c), Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Mark Craig, Peter Fulton, Tom Latham, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi, Hamish Rutherford, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Neil Wagner, BJ Watling, Kane Williamson.