New Zealand and the West Indies are ready to face each other in the final match of the three-match test series at Mount Maunganui, Bay Oval, on Thursday, December 18. This match is scheduled to begin at 3:30 AM IST (11:00 AM local time). Stay tuned with our NZ vs WI prediction, team preview, pitch report, player stats and winner prediction ahead of this big contest.
New Zealand continued their impressive performance against the West Indies, consistently and across formats. In the last match too, New Zealand bowlers gave a stellar performance, preventing West Indies from scoring a big total and winning the match easily by nine wickets. With this win, New Zealand now leads the three-match series 1-0. In their final match, they will also have a good chance to beat the West Indies again in this series.
On the other hand, while the West Indies performed well in the first match and captured the attention of the fans, they failed to perform well in the second match. Their batsmen performed very poorly in the last match, and as a result, they lost the match by nine wickets. However, now they will have one last chance where they would like to end this New Zealand tour with a win.
Head-to-Head Record: A total of 51 matches have been played between these two sides so far. New Zealand has won 28, and the West Indies has won 13, while 20 matches ended in a draw. Moreover, New Zealand has also won four of the last five head-to-head clashes, while the West Indies performed poorly.
New Zealand Preview
New Zealand put up a stellar performance in the last match, where they restricted West Indies from scoring big in both innings and won the match comfortably, for which most of the credit goes to their bowling. Jacob Duffy was the man of the match in the last match for his good performance, taking six wickets, which also included a fifer.
New Zealand also showed good batting performance in the last match, where they declared the innings after scoring 278 runs in the first innings, thanks to brilliant half-centuries from Devon Conway and Mitchell Hay. Apart from them, Kane Williamson, Glenn Phillips and captain Tom Latham will also be ready to bat well in the next match.
Jacob Duffy’s outstanding performance in bowling continues. He took eight wickets in the first match and six wickets in the last match to be named Man of the Match. The New Zealand bowlers’ superior performance was the biggest factor in their victory in the last match. In the next match, the hosts will once again expect good bowling from Zak Foulkes, Kristian Clarke, and Michael Ray.
West Indies Preview
The West Indies have simply disappointed throughout the tour. They haven’t performed well even once in the last game, which cost them the last match as well. Now West Indies will have only one last chance in this series and on this tour, where they will try to finish it with a win and put up a good performance.
In the last match, West Indies’ batting could not do anything special. In the first innings, only John Campbell and Shai Hope were able to last for some time, while the performance of the rest of the batsmen was quite disappointing. However, the hero of the first match, Justin Greaves, will be expected to perform well in the last match. Apart from him, Brandon King, Roston Chase, Kavem Hodge will also have to perform well.
West Indies’ bowling wasn’t particularly impressive in the last match. Anderson Phillips took four wickets, and Kemar Roach took two, while the rest of the bowlers appeared to be mostly flops and out of form. West Indies will be relying on their bowlers to win the final match.
NZ vs WI Probably Playing XI
New Zealand: Devon Conway, Tom Latham (c), Kane Williamson, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell, Gleen Phillips, Kristian Clarke, Jacob Duffy, Michael Rae
West Indies: John Campbell, Brandon King, Alick Athanaze, Shai Hope, Roston Chase (c), Tevin Imlach, Justin Graves, Kemar Roach, Anderson Phillip, Jayden Seales, Ojay Shields
NZ vs WI Pitch Report
The pitch at Mount Maunganui, Bay Oval, generally provides excellent conditions for bowlers. The bowlers get good bounce and swing, which makes it more difficult for the batters to face. Apart from this, as the match progresses, the batting becomes more difficult. That is why the team winning the toss chooses to bat first so that they have the good conditions to play. Batsmen will not have many opportunities to bat well except in the first innings.
The weather on Thursday at Mount Maunganui, New Zealand is expected to be partly sunny, around 22°C, with 10% chance of rain, 52% humidity, and moderate winds near 23 km/h.
NZ vs WI Winner Prediction
New Zealand have exceeded expectations at home so far. They have defeated the West Indies in every format and will be favourites to win this match. Apart from this, New Zealand’s bowlers are in excellent form, and the pitch conditions here will suit them very well. The host will surely want to extend this lead in their home conditions.
This will be the last chance for the West Indies to level the series, and they will definitely want to end the series on a draw with a win. However, this will not be easy for them, and they will need a strong performance from their bowlers. The West Indies captain, who has looked out of form so far, will have a big responsibility to perform well in this match.
Our Prediction: New Zealand
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