West Indies vs. New Zealand, 2nd T20: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info, Preview

It’s a must-win game for the West Indies when they take on New Zealand in the second Twenty20 on Sunday.  The hosts lost the opener and now have to win if they want to save face.

Venue: Windsor Park, Roseau, Dominica

Date: Sunday 6 July

Start time: 7 p.m. BST/2 p.m. EST

Live on: Sky Sports (New Zealand, U.K.), Sports Max (Caribbean), Fox Sports (Australia), PTV (Pakistan), New Prime (India), CBN and Cricket Plus (Canada), SuperSport 2 (South Africa), Willow TV (U.S.), OSN Network (UAE)

Weather: Much like on Sunday, AccuWeather predicts Dominica will have some early showers that are expected to clear, with temperatures peaking at 30 degrees Celsius.

Overview

Things aren’t going so well for West Indies cricket.  After defeat in the Test series, they had a chance to turn their fortunes around in the shortest format of the game.  New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first, a decision which proved to be quite smart.

Andre Fletcher and Darren Bravo were the only two players who managed runs of significance for the hosts, as they posted 132-8 in a match reduced down to 18 overs.  The Black Caps’ chase went smoothly for the most part, save for Darren Sammy and Samuel Badree.

Badree bowled well up front, while Sammy took three scalps out of four.  But it wasn't enough to stop New Zealand.  The visitors won by 12 runs on the Duckworth-Lewis method.

While some T20 results can be put down to a little bit of luck, especially when overs are reduced, the Windies have some serious soul-searching to do.  Lack of partnerships up front and poor decision-making from their batsmen cost them.

The short turnaround time means there will be little time for doing too much introspection, but it will serve coach Ottis Gibson well to give his charges a stern talking-to.  The West Indies simply must win, and they must do so convincingly.  Otherwise, it might be time to ask some serious questions about the coaching staff, which seemingly cannot get the best out of the players at present.

Key players

West Indies

Darren Sammy didn't have much impact with the bat, but his bowling was impressive.  Sammy is the kind of player who can inspire a team to greatness, even if he is not performing at his best.  That will be needed on Sunday in order for the Windies to bounce back.

New Zealand

Ross Taylor's 28 off 20 was a crafty knock and reminder of what he can do when he is at his best.  Although Brendon McCullum was the man who top-scored, Taylor can be a whirlwind in the middle order.  This little cameo will have been exactly the kind of confidence boost he needed to kick into high gear.

Squads

West Indies

Darren Sammy (c), Samuel Badree, Christopher Barnwell, Darren Bravo, Sheldon Cottrell, Andre Fletcher, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Andre Russell, Krishmar Santokie, Lendl Simmons, Dwayne Smith

New Zealand

Brendon McCullum (c), Peter Fulton, Hamish Rutherford, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Corey Anderson, BJ Watling, Luke Ronchi, Jimmy Neesham, Mark Craig, Tim Southee, Neil Wagner, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi