Lockie Ferguson Confident New Zealand Will Rebound Against West Indies in T20 World Cup

Tarouba [Trinidad and Tobago]: Ahead of his side’s ICC T20 World Cup match against West Indies, New Zealand pacer Lockie Ferguson admitted that the team’s performance against Afghanistan was not their best, but they are aiming to bounce back against Windies, who he said has been playing some great cricket as of late.

Kiwis will be taking on West Indies in their T20 World Cup match at Guyana on Thursday. In Group C, West Indies are in second place with two wins in two games, having won against Papua New Guinea and Uganda. New Zealand had lost their campaign opener to Afghanistan by 84 runs and sit at the bottom of the points table in the group.

“The first game was not how we wanted to start it off. But at the same time, Afghanistan is a serious T20I side and had a great game. Not our best performance but looking to bounce back against West Indies,” Lockie said in the pre-match press conference.

Ferguson said that the team has a lot of experience and while the game did not go as per expectations against Afghanistan, things change quickly in T20 cricket.

“Different pitch and venue. We will have to start again. West Indies has been playing some great cricket. But we are not carrying a lot of demons from the previous game. Doing our homework is important,” he added.

Ferguson, who has a fine record against WI, having taken eight wickets in five games with the career-best figures of 5/21, said that he is excited to take on the team in their home conditions.

“It was in New Zealand (the five-wicket haul), but I would enjoy taking on the Windies. They have got some big strikers, playing them at their home will be a huge challenge,” he added.

On the wicket in Guyana, Ferguson said that based on his interaction with some West Indies players, the wicket is sometimes high-scoring or “scrappy” where scores of 140-150 runs are good.

West Indies Squad: Brandon King, Johnson Charles, Nicholas Pooran(w), Rovman Powell(c), Sherfane Rutherford, Andre Russell, Romario Shepherd, Roston Chase, Akeal Hosein, Alzarri Joseph, Gudakesh Motie, Obed McCoy, Shamar Joseph, Shimron Hetmyer, Shai Hope

New Zealand Squad: Finn Allen, Devon Conway(w), Kane Williamson(c), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, James Neesham, Rachin Ravindra.