Twenty20 / Andrew Hughes / 27 December 2008 / Leave a comment

If you don't believe these two sides are evenly matched, then look no further than their recent results: two drawn Tests and a tied 1st Twenty20 match. It's likely to be close again but the savage hitting of Chris Gayle may just tip things the Windies' way.

With the cricket table groaning under the weight of a feast of tempting fixtures this Christmas, it would be easy to overlook the apparently modest fare from New Zealand where the Black Caps have been taking on the West Indies. But this is not the sports watchers equivalent of another plate of steaming sprouts, but rather a fine and exotic pudding, with a fiery kick. So read on and let us explain why even the most stuffed cricket watcher must find room for this particular item.

Wooden spoons at the ready

Coinciding with the heavyweight title clash in Australia, this is more of a bantamweight punch up in the basement of world cricket. Squabbles at the bottom of the heap can be just as raw as those further up, particularly given the edge of desperation to the scrap. The recently completed Test series between these two teams was sometimes scrappy but always keenly fought and featured several flash points, including a bout of handbag brandishing between Darren Powell and Brendon McCullum. Both Tests were drawn though so the wooden spoon remained unclaimed.

Someone's got to lose, right?

Well, you'd think so, but these two teams tend to batter one another to a standstill. Their Twenty20 game at Eden Park on Boxing Day ended in a tie. And not for the first time. In their only previous Twenty20 encounter, in February 2006, on the same ground, they also produced a tie, with New Zealand winning on a bowl out. This time round, it was the West Indies who won the eliminator, thanks to something called a Super Over. It isn't that surprising, considering how evenly matched the two teams are. So can lightning strike for a third time in the second Twenty20 game on Sunday? You wouldn't want to rule it out entirely, but the current odds on a tie of [12.0] are very short, even allowing for the fact that neither of them appears to want to win. Try asking for odds of [20.0] and I'd be surprised if you didn't get matched...

Who's hot?

Chris Gayle, laconic and supersonic opener lashed the Black Caps around for fun in the Test Series and put in a one-man show in the first Twenty20, top scoring with 64 to launch the West Indies run chase, then smashing 25 in the Super Over. New Zealand will be hoping Gayle's IPL team-mate Brendon McCullum can do a similar job on Sunday. His 158 in the opening game of the IPL in the spring was an iconic innings, awesome to watch. Almost as entertaining was his protest at being given out in the Second Test last week, something for connoisseurs of tantrums to savour.

Anyone else?

Big bad Jesse Ryder belongs in a spaghetti Western, not the sedately trodden green pastures of New Zealand cricket. Still, he gives the ball a fair old thwack and if he gets his eye in at the top of the order, there could be fireworks. You could say the same about the Windies own bad boy, Jamaican Xavier Marshall and the giant Keiron (pronounced Kai-ron) Pollard who swings at everything. The best bowlers on each side on Boxing Day were the spinners, Sulieman Benn for the West Indies and the Black Caps captain Daniel Vettori who's teasing twirlers had the visitors in all kinds of trouble, although he did cop a frightful mauling from Gayle in the Super Over.

Where's the money going?

Hmm. When two not very good tribes go to war you might just as well back the bigger one. I certainly think the West Indies are a touch too high at [2.02] to win Sunday's second match and take the series. I suspect that the reason New Zealand are as short as [1.92] is down to them playing at home, but in this format of cricket, home advantage is far less significant than in the longer versions. And though they didn't all fire on Boxing Day, Chris Gayle's side have the edge in explosive batting. They also have, in Benn and Gayle, two wily Twenty20 bowlers, whereas, Vettori aside, New Zealand's bowling looks vulnerable to the big hitters in maroon and grey.