West Indies’ main aim to level series – Hope

The New Zealand versus West Indies five-match T20I series sits at 2-1 with New Zealand leading. After the rained-out fourth T20I, Shai Hope and his West Indies side will be aiming to level the series when the final match bowls off on Wednesday, November 12.

New Zealand, who are enjoying home conditions and are crunching games in critical moments, will be hoping to finish the series with a win and a score-line of 3-1.
Hope commended the fight shown during the series, with all three of the four completed matches coming down to the wire.
“We didn’t really get a chance to get out there and maximise in this game, but we’ve still got a chance to level the series and that’s our main focus for the next one. I was looking forward to this one, especially coming from Bangladesh. You’d expect a little bit better surface here in New Zealand.”
Hope added: “It’s just about us trying to progress as a team. It’s great to see the fight that we’ve been showing. Unfortunately, we didn’t win those last two games. But every time you put yourself in this position, you’ve obviously got a chance to win. So I’m very happy with the progress that we’re making.”
Alick Athanaze, batting four times, has 101 runs, while the consistent Romario Shepherd has 92 runs. Jacob Duffy and Ish Sodhi are the leading bowlers with six wickets each.
Meanwhile, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner is expecting another good surface in Dunedin, New Zealand. He is also expecting another good match between the sides.
“With the overcast conditions, it’s quite nice. The ball was swinging a bit. I guess the pitch being under cover a little bit as well. The more you put yourself in these positions, the more you’re going to learn from it. Obviously, nice to be on the right side of a couple. There’s learnings in both games for both teams. We go to Dunedin, like you said, it’s probably going to be a bit colder. But, probably another good surface and probably another good match, to be fair,” Santner said.
The first ball of the fifth and final T20I is expected to be bowled off at 20:15h local time.