Small boundaries. Big hitters.
Anyone want to bowl into the wind today?
That is probably not going to form part of the motivational speech Mitchell Santner gives the Black Caps before they walk out to face the West Indies at the University Oval in Dunedin this afternoon.
But someone will have to do it.
‘‘That’s probably me, isn’t it?’’ Santner said with what looked like the beginnings of a wry smile.
The University Oval is more of an intimate venue than a vast expanse of grass with a pitch in the middle.
Managing the bowlers, the wind, the short boundaries and the never-ending supply of power hitters the Windies seem to possess will be an enormous challenge.
‘‘There will be wind. You've just got to be smart with how you operate and be brave at the same time.
‘‘We know the West Indies deal in boundaries, and I guess it's the time in between, or closing the overs out and trying to restrict them to what we think is a good score on the surface.’’
The first three games in the series were tense.
The visitors won game one by seven runs and New Zealand bounced back with three-run and nine-run wins.
The West Indies came hard at the end of both narrow losses.
‘‘I think we've done a lot of good stuff,’’ Santner said.
‘‘Different guys are stepping up at different times throughout the series, which has been very pleasing.
‘‘And [there is] some stuff that we'd probably like to do a little bit better.
‘‘Maybe we could have closed out a couple of those in the last two games with the ball, but we're coming up against a side who are very powerful.
‘‘They pack power all the way to 11, as we saw the other day. I think going into this game on a smallish ground, we know we've just got to be on for all 20 [overs].’’
Game four of the five-game series was abandoned, so the Black Caps lead the series 2-1 and cannot lose.
The West Indies can still level the series.
Then there are T20 World Cup spots to play for. That gets under way in Sri Lanka and India in February.
One player who should be a shoo-in for that Black Caps squad is Otago seamer Jacob Duffy.
The 31-year-old climbed all the way to the top of the ICC T20 bowling rankings earlier this year.
The Southlander is poised on 49 wickets from 37 games. Only eight players have taken more wickets in the format for New Zealand, but few can boast an average of 17.73, an economy of 7.32 and a strike rate of 14.53.
Duffy is the joint leading wicket-taker in the series. He has snaffled six at 14.33.
He put his form down to some good fortune and a consistent run in the national side.
‘‘There's a bit of luck involved in twenty20 [with it] just being a bit of a hit-and-miss game,’’ Duffy said.
‘‘But just getting consistent game time is quite nice. I seem to be playing most games these days, which is awesome.
‘‘It takes a little bit of stress off the plate. You can just go out there and do your thing over and over and get yourself acclimatised and comfortable at an international level.’’
Fifth T20
University Oval, Dunedin
From 1.15pm
Black Caps: Devon Conway, Tim Robinson, Rachin Ravindra, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (captain), Zak Foulkes, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy, Mitchell Hay, Jimmy Neesham, Nathan Smith.
West Indies: Brandon King, Alick Athanaze, Shai Hope, Ackeem Auguste, Jason Holder, Rovman Powell, Roston Chase, Romario Shepherd, Matthew Forde, Akeal Hosein, Jayden Seales, Amir Jangoo, Sherfane Rutherford, Khary Pierre, Shamar Springer.
