West Indies bowl against unchanged New Zealand, Brathwaite replaces injured Russell

West Indies made three changes as their captain Jason Holder won the toss and opted to bowl against New Zealand

MANCHESTER: From their side which lost to Bangladesh, West Indies have made three changes as their captain Jason Holder won the toss and opted to bowl against New Zealand at the Old Trafford. The most prominent change is the absence of allrounder Andre Russell, who has been ruled out due to a knee injury and has been replaced by Carlos Brathwaite.

The other two changes include dropping out batsman Darren Bravo and Shannon Gabriel at the expense of offspinner Ashley Nurse and fast bowler Kemar Roach. (ALSO READ: West Indies vs New Zealand, Live Blog)

“We know what’s at stake, everybody is up for the game. We’ve just got to bring our A game. We haven’t been consistent with the bat, ball or in the field. Three changes. Darren Bravo, Andre Russell, Shannon Gabriel aren’t there, Ashley Nurse, Carlos Brathwaite and Kemar Roach come in,” Holder said at the toss.

New Zealand remained unchanged from their game against South Africa with captain Kane Williamson not ruling out the possibility of this game being an high-scoring one.

“No doubt the surface will remain pretty similar throughout, but important to do the job first up. We know without a doubt the threat West Indies pose, they’ve got world-class players and can beat anyone,” he said.

“We’ve already played on a variety of surfaces in this tournament and will have to adapt today again. You just try to play what’s in front of you. If it is a high-scoring affair, you just have to put up a good score. There were thoughts (about changing) but at the moment the team remains the same.”

Teams

New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (capt), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wk), James Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult

West Indies: Chris Gayle, Evin Lewis, Shai Hope (wk), Nicholas Pooran, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder (capt), Carlos Brathwaite, Ashley Nurse, Oshane Thomas, Kemar Roach, Sheldon Cottrell