New Zealand look to end summer of stalemates

Match facts

January 2, 2009
Start time 2pm (0100 GMT)

Big Picture

New Zealand will be looking to put a summer of stalemates behind them in the second one-day international on Saturday. After two drawn Tests and a win apiece in the two-match Twenty20 series, the home side were on top in the first one-dayer in Queenstown before rain brought an early end to the game.

New Zealand coach Andy Moles was pleased with his bowlers' performance in the first game, and was particularly relieved to see allrounder Jacob Oram bowl without any discomfort after missing the Tests due to a calf strain. Another piece of good news for him is that West Indies' middle-order rock, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, is a doubtful starter, still struggling with a hand injury.

West Indies coach John Dyson preferred not to read too much into the poor performance of his batsmen in Queenstown, saying that the venue had a history of poor scores.

ODI form guide (last five games, most recent first)

West Indies: TLLLW
New Zealand: TWWLW

Players to watch

Jacob Oram's series-winning performance with both bat and ball against Bangladesh propelled him to the top of the ICC ODI allrounder rankings in October. He has since suffered a series of injuries but made a confident comeback in Queenstown, sending down six overs for 16 runs.

Xavier Marshall's class was so evident that there was hardly any criticism even when he was fast-tracked into the Test squad in 2005, despite having a first-class average in the mid-20s and no hundreds. He has shown glimpses of his potential, hammering Australia's bowlers in a Twenty20 game before taking Canada apart in an ODI with a breathtaking assault.

New Zealand seamers Kyle Mills, Mark Gillespie, Tim Southee and Oram bowled economical spells in the first ODI but allrounder Grant Elliott didn't get a chance to bowl. Moles may consider dropping him for offspinner Jeetan Patel, who impressed in the preceding Twenty20s, since the pitch to be on the slow side.

New Zealand (probable): Brendon McCullum (wk), Jesse Ryder, Jamie How, Ross Taylor, Daniel Flynn, Jacob Oram, Daniel Vettori (capt), Tim Southee, Jeetan Patel, Mark Gillespie, Kyle Mills.

If Chanderpaul is ruled out of the match, the hard-hitting Shawn Findlay could take his place. Brendan Nash is likely to keep his spot in the XI despite scoring only 12 in Queenstown, since he was overlooked for the Twenty20s and needs some time to get into the one-day groove.

West Indies (probable): Chris Gayle (capt), Sewnarine Chattergoon, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivnarine Chanderpaul/Shawn Findlay, Xavier Marshall, Brendan Nash, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Jerome Taylor, Nikita Miller, Fidel Edwards, Lionel Baker.

Stats

New Zealand have an impressive ODI record in Christchurch. In 14 ODIs since 2000, they have won 12 and lost two. West Indies have lost both their matches here.

New Zealand average 39.36 runs-per-wicket with the bat at the venue, scoring at an high rate of 5.58 an over. They enjoy a 13-run advantage over West Indies, each of whose wickets cost 26.85 runs, scoring at 5.43 an over.

The ground has proved a high-scoring one, with all teams except India conceding runs at more than five-an-over.

Pitch and conditions

Chris Lewis, Cantebury's operations manager, expects the drop-in pitch to be dry, following a spell of warm weather in Christchurch, and not favour pace or bounce. The stadium is being redeveloped for the next rugby World Cup, and the entire turf was re-laid after Canterbury's final rugby game of the season in October.

The forecast is for showers in the morning, but better weather is expected later in the day.

Quotes

"We have a good history in the one-day format and we showed again when we applied pressure (in the first ODI) the team looked very dangerous."
Andy Moles wants his side to keep performing as they did in Queenstown

"He's our number one player. If you don't have Shiv in the team it's a big loss."
Chris Gayle knows just how important Chanderpaul is to the inexperienced West Indies batting line-up