Web Desk: New Zealand is about to start their World Test Championship campaign. They are looking to extend their dominance over West Indies. They will be hosting Caribbean islanders at Hagley Oval on Tuesday.
New Zealand have already beat the West Indies 3-0 in one-day series and 3-1 in Twenty20 series. Due to this they will be confident for the next three test matches.
The black caps have already won the WTC title in 2021. If they want to earn the chance to be in 2027 final, they will have to take a solid start from here. Considering that in the last campaign the experienced four losses in seven home tests which resulted in a failed campaign.
“I think if you look traditionally around the last couple of editions of the World Test Championship, being successful at home is critically important,” said Rob Walter.
Rob Walter will be replacing Gary Stead as the coach. This will be his first time coaching the black caps.
“It’s not the be all and end all, because we’ve started to see our teams can win away from home … but certainly, winning at home is important … so we’re looking to start strong and start quick and lay down a marker early.”
West Indies played their last two red-ball series against India and Australia. They were swept by both teams. Interestingly West Indies has not been able to win a test match in New Zealand since 1995. This series is important for West Indies if they want to break this upsetting streak.
The captain Roston Chase would be happy if they were able to win the match. However, he is more focused on his team playing good cricket.
“Ideally, when you come to any series, the goal is to win, but I just want the guys to play the same way they did in the ODIs and the T20s, where they played good, exciting cricket,”.
“That’s just the main goal for us, to play some good cricket and make the kiwis work as hard as possible. Obviously, if we can get the upper hand early and try to put them under pressure from the first game, I think that’d be great.”
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