New Zealand

Watling had been considering his options and has decided to call time on his career following two Tests against England - the first of which starts at Lord's on June 2 - and the ICC World Test Championship final versus India at the Ageas Bowl June 18-22

The 35-year-old has played in 73 Test since making his debut as an opening batsman in 2009 and will break Adam Parore's record number of appearances by a Black Caps keeper of 67 if he plays in all three matches in England.

Watling said: "It's the right time. It's been a huge honour to represent New Zealand and in particular wear the Test baggy.

"Test cricket really is the pinnacle of the game and I've loved every minute of being out there in the whites with the boys. Sitting in the changing rooms having a beer with the team after five days' toil is what I'll miss the most.

"Although I've had to make this announcement ahead of the tour to England, my focus is very much on the three Tests ahead and preparing to perform in them.

"This tour will be a challenge on a few levels and we know as a team we will need to be at the very top of our game if we want to succeed."

Watling holds the New Zealand Test dismissals record with 249 catches - excluding 10 as a fielder - and eight stumpings, more than any other current Test gloveman.

Tim Southee has enjoyed the most fruitful bowler-keeper partnership with Watling, who has been involved in 73 dismissals for the paceman. Fellow seamers Trent Boult and Neil Wagner have seen Watling pouch catches off their bowling 55 and 53 times respectively.

He has scored eight centuries in the longest format, with a career-best 205 coming against England at Bay Oval in November 2019.

Watling has also played in 28 ODIs and five Twenty20 Internationals. 

The Black Caps were powerless to avoid defeat after their hosts completed the third-highest fourth-innings run chase at Lord's thanks to a magnificent Joe Root knock.

The former England captain, in his first game since handing the armband on to Ben Stokes, scored 115 not out and became the 14th player to break the 10,000 Test run barrier.

Speaking afterwards, Williamson said his side would learn lessons from their loss and mount a firm response, with the second Test starting next Friday at Trent Bridge.

"The game ebbed and flowed the whole time," he told Sky Sports. 

"I thought both teams fought hard, and we saw how difficult it was and how much it changed throughout.

"But [we] take nothing away from the quality of the English performance. It’s about moving on quickly and taking those learnings, moving into the next Test.

"We'll reflect on this and look forward to the next one."

On Root, Williamson added: "[It's] an incredible innings from an amazing player. It's truly an unbelievable achievement.

"You recognise the quality of the player and his longevity as a world-class player."

The batter was a doubt for the tournament in Australia after breaking the fifth metacarpal on his right hand when he took a blow in the nets last week.

Mitchell was ruled out of the pre-World Cup T20I Tri-Series encounters with Pakistan and Bangladesh but will travel to Australia.

Black Caps head coach Gary Stead revealed Mitchell may not be ready for New Zealand's first match of the tournament against the hosts at the SCG, but he hopes the 31-year-old will face Afghanistan four days later.

"The good news is we have made a decision about Daryl Mitchell, and he will tour with us to the World Cup," Stead said on Monday.

"When we thought about the value Daryl brings to the team and the likely time frame... we are still hopeful he'll be right for the first game but probably more realistically the second game.

"There will still be four pool games to go and then hopefully semi-final and final after that. 

"Daryl has showed the value to this team, and we feel it was the right decision to make."

The Black Caps are monitoring the fitness of fast bowler Lockie Ferguson, who has been sidelined with an abdominal injury.

The two teams had been hopeful of ensuring the decider would produce an outcome, with the tourists 219 all out at Hagley Oval as Washington Sundar posted 51 and Daryl Mitchell took 3-25.

But with just two more overs needed for the Black Caps to reach the DLS threshold of 20 overs in response, the heavens opened to ensure yet another washout and a 1-0 series win for Kane Williamson's side.

Finn Allen's 57 had helped New Zealand to 104-1, putting them in a strong position to go on and win the match regardless.

Across six limited-overs matches, it marks the fourth instance of rain significantly impacting proceedings, with three no results and a fourth decided by DLS.

India had benefited in the Twenty20 International series, themselves winning 1-0.

Gabriel, who took the wickets of Tom Blundell, Will Young and Ross Taylor, ended the day with figures of 3 for 57. Holder, who was arguably the best bowler on the day, had 2 for 65. Either bowler should have had Nicholls out before he got to 50. In fact, three of the West Indies front line bowlers could have snared his wicket but Nicholls rode his luck to what is his sixth Test century that put New Zealand in a command at 294 for 6 on a tricky pitch.

Shamarh Brooks dropped a difficult chance off the fifth ball of the 28^th over when Nicolls, then on 22, flicked Alzarri Joseph to short leg. However, the fielder was unable to hold on.

Then in the 36^th over, when on 30, Nicholls hooked Joseph over the long leg boundary, a shot that should have resulted in a catch had Jermaine Blackwood held his ground on the boundary ropes and not run into 10 yards only to see the ball land just beyond where he had been standing. Joseph sank to his knees in anguish.

The easiest chances were to come later.

Facing Gabriel in the 41^st over Nicholls edged to Darren Bravo who floored a regulation catch at second slip. The frustrations of the West Indies players were further deepened in the 44^th over when Chemar Holder found Nicholls’ edge only for Bravo to floor another catch at slip.

Riding his wave of good fortune, Nicholls mounted partnerships of 70 with Young, who became Gabriel’s 150 Test victim when Jason Holder pulled off a stunning catch diving low to his right at second slip. Young made 43 helping New Zealand recover from 78 for 3.

A 55-run fifth-wicket stand with BJ Watling followed. The partnership was broken when Watling chopped a back-of-a-length delivery from Alzarri Joseph onto his stumps at 203 for 5.

And, just when it seemed as if the West Indies were about to make further inroads into the New Zealand line up, Nicholls and Daryl Mitchell put on 83 before Mitchell, who was dropped by Holder off Roston Chase when on 41, became Chemar Holder’s second Test wicket, trapped lbw for 42.

The 22-year-old Barbadian had earlier got Tom Latham caught behind by Joshua Da Silva for 27 to have New Zealand at 63 for 2.

Kyle Jamieson, who scored an unbeaten half century in the first Test is not out on one at the other end.

Alzarri Joseph has taken 1 for 65 from 17 overs.

Labuschagne finished day one at the SCG unbeaten on 130 as the hosts, who already have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, reached 283-3.

It was Labuschagne's fourth ton of the Australian summer, having reached three figures in back-to-back Tests versus Pakistan, and prolonged an extended purple patch.

After entering the Ashes as Test cricket's first concussion substitute when Jofra Archer struck Smith at Lord's, the 25-year-old scored four consecutive fifties to cement his place in the Australia side.

"I haven't had time to sit down and think about how the whole year has unfolded, it's been pretty special," he said, before referencing the stuttering start that followed his Test debut against Pakistan in October 2018.

"This time last year I was sitting here and there was a lot of questions. I'm thankful for the opportunity and scoring runs is always nice. I never take it for granted though, because it can turn very quickly.

"I'm definitely not comfortable. You grow in confidence facing the same opposition – you get used to bowler, you get used to their actions."

Smith, who played a supporting hand with 63, finds himself in the unusual position of not being his side's heaviest runs scorer, although Labuschagne believes he has a long way to go before he reaches the same levels as the former captain.

"I wouldn't be drawing any comparisons to Steve yet," he said. "He's played 73 Tests and averages 63. He's been doing it for a long time and his consistency is amazing.

"Today he showed it again. We do spend a bit of time together and I do enjoy batting with him – watching him go about it and how he figures out different plans.

"It is nice. Once we're both in we talk about different things out there. Nothing changes, I still love batting with him."

Indeed, Labuschagne enjoys batting with Smith so much that he was largely unaware of his team-mate taking 39 deliveries to get off the mark – the latter's duel with left-arm paceman Neil Wagner continuing in absorbing fashion.

"I actually had no idea he was on zero until the 38th ball. I actually thought we were rotating the strike quite well, which is quite funny," Labuschagne chuckled.

"I wondered what all the carry on was and he was like, 'I'm on zero'."

The final Test of Australia's home season is taking place against the backdrop of bushfires ravaging the country and Labuschagne paid tribute to the firefighters trying to tackle the situation

"If all we did today was create a distraction of a bit of enjoyment for people in these tough times then that's a win for us," he added.

"But the focus should be on the firies [firefighters] and what they're doing for the community. That's the most important thing at this moment in time."

The 24-year-old Paul has been included in a 15-man Test squad to face New Zealand this month.  The player was previously invited for the team’s tour of England but along with Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer, declined to participate for health reasons.

His selection has not been entirely without controversy, with some believing the player to be too inconsistent to play Test cricket, particularly with the way he bowls.  Estwick believes, however, that a few of those inefficiencies come down to not playing the format enough.

“Keemo is very talented player, obviously he hasn’t played first-class cricket for a while because he has been with the West Indies and on the T20 circuit.  It’s good to have him back to see where he is at.  We have two first class games coming up to see where he is at,” Estwick told members of the media.

“We know the talent of Keemo Paul there is no doubt about that, a wonderful talent player.  He reminds me of someone like the late Keith Boyce from Barbados who represented the West Indies. Very athletic fielder, good mover, excellent timer of the ball,” he added.

“Remember Keemo is only 24 so it’s about how hard you work and how much preparation you put in.  Once Keemo can do that and he can get first class cricket under his belt, there is no doubt about his talent.  The last time he played a full first-class season he got 40-odd first-class wickets.”

Sussex bowler Robinson took 7-101 as well as contributing 42 runs in his Test debut as England drew with New Zealand last week.

Shortly after the conclusion of the match at Lord's, it was confirmed by the ECB he had been "suspended from all international cricket pending the outcome of a disciplinary investigation following historic tweets he posted in 2012 and 2013".

The messages, posted when Robinson was 18 and 19, were brought to light over the course of his international bow. The player said he was "ashamed".

Although Robinson could yet return to the England fold following the conclusion of the investigation, his suspension has provoked debate.

Dowden, the United Kingdom's Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, suggested on Monday it was an excessive punishment.

"Ollie Robinson's tweets were offensive and wrong," Dowden wrote on his own Twitter page.

"They are also a decade old and written by a teenager. The teenager is now a man and has rightly apologised.

"The ECB has gone over the top by suspending him and should think again."

The England team, including Robinson, had worn anti-discrimination T-shirts carrying messages regarding racism, sexism, transphobia, homophobia and ageism ahead of play starting in the first Test last Wednesday.

Robinson said later that day: "On the biggest day of my career so far, I am embarrassed by the racist and sexist tweets that I posted over eight years ago, which have today become public.

"I want to make it clear that I'm not racist and I'm not sexist. I deeply regret my actions, and I am ashamed of making such remarks.

"I was thoughtless and irresponsible, and regardless of my state of mind at the time, my actions were inexcusable. Since that period, I have matured as a person and fully regret the tweets."

The 26-year-old burst on the scene during the 2019 CPL season, when he was the tournament’s most lethal bowler with best match figures of 5 for 19 and a total of 22 wickets.

Walsh struggled to replicate that form this season, managing just 7 wickets in 10 matches, at an economy rate of 7.65.  Notably, the bowler suffered a brutal onslaught from a rampaging Kieron Pollard, which saw him end with figures of 44 for 1 in that match.  Nonetheless, Walsh was selected as part of the T20 squad for the tour of New Zealand next month.

The bowler, however, remains confident of making an impact, perhaps as much as he did in India last year where he was decisive in the second game.

“I would agree that the results didn’t quite go my way, but I was still quite satisfied with the way I was consistent, but as I said, you can’t win all of them all of the time so it really was a good learning opportunity and a good learning tournament,” Walsh told the Antigua Observer.

“That one game or that one over doesn’t determine who I am as a leg-spinner on a whole.  I always try to get back to my feet because my father always taught me that cricket and life go hand in hand.  So, it is just like life, when you fall down today, we still have to get back up the next day and keep going again.”

Ahead of the start of the New Zealand tour, the Windies batting struggles have been well documented.  In their previous series against England, the team’s batting average teetered at around 27.86 and that was one of the team’s best in recent years.

The team’s highest batting average in a Test series consisting of at least two matches since 2017 is 34.66 and that was against Zimbabwe in 2017.

While they have struggled at the crease, however, the team has developed a strong bowling line-up, a four-pronged attack that consists of captain Jason Holder, Shannon Gabriel, Kemar Roach, and Alzarri Joseph.

“What I would like to see improve overall is the batting of the team.  I think that our bowlers have been doing brilliantly for us, but we have not been getting big enough scores for them to bowl at,” Chase told members of the media from the team’s training camp in New Zealand.

“Mainly in the first innings, the first innings sets up the game for the whole Test match.  Once you put the team under pressure with a good first innings total, they’ll always be chasing the game and that is a good thing to have the opposition doing in Test cricket…as a batting unit we need to give the bowlers more to work with.”

All-rounder Shadab captained the tourists in a 2-1 Twenty20 International series defeat to the Black Caps after Babar Azam missed out with a fractured right thumb.

Shadab will play no part in the first Test at Mount Maunganui, which starts on Saturday, after sustaining a thigh injury.

The extent of the damage done by Shadab will be revealed after he has undergone MRI scans in Tauranga on Thursday.

Pakistan have drafted in uncapped left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar in the absence of Shadab.

Opening batsman Imam-ul-Haq also misses the opening match of the series with a thumb injury.

India head into the first of three T20Is at JSCA International Stadium Complex in Ranchi on Friday on the back of a 3-0 whitewash of the Black Caps in the 50-over format.

New Zealand have won just one of their past 11 completed against India in the short format, with that victory coming in the 2021 T20 World Cup in Dubai.

The tourists are yet to win a multi-game T20I bilateral series in India and they will be without the likes of Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and Tom Latham, with Mitchell Santner taking over as captain.

Pandya will lead India in the absence of Rohit Sharma, while Virat Kohli will not feature and Ruturaj Gaikwad misses out with a wrist injury.

All-rounder Pandya said: "We will try to win obviously. New Zealand is a good team both in T20Is and ODIs.

"They always challenge you. We will have to be at their best to beat them."

Shubman Gill comes into the series in the form of his life, scoring a sublime 208 in the first ODI and a century in the third match.

Gill is set to open the batting with Ishan Kishan, so Prithvi Shaw will have to bide his time.

Pandya said: "Shubman has done well and will start the series. The way he is batting and he was already in the team."

India and New Zealand were beaten semi-finalists in last year's T20 World Cup in Australia, although many of the players involved in the tournament will not be featuring this time around.

Suryakumar on top of the world

Suryakumar Yadav is another player New Zealand will be eager to see the back of before he gets set.

He was named the ICC Men's T20I Player of the Year for 2022 this week and is the top-ranked T20I batter in the world.

Suryakumar made a decisive 112 in his last T20I innings against Sri Lanka, his third century in six months in this format.

Baptism of fire for uncapped New Zealand bowlers

Uncapped duo Ben Lister and Henry Shipley are poised to make their debuts against a formidable batting line-up.

Lister will provide an alternative left-arm seam option with no Trent Boult for Santner to call upon.

Paceman Shipley will also be looking to make his mark on the T20I stage after making his ODI debut against Pakistan and facing India twice.

The hosts edged past the Black Caps with one ball remaining in Lucknow, winning by six wickets in a low-scoring thriller to level the three-match T20I series.

New Zealand only managed 99-8 from their 20-over allocation on a difficult wicket but made India wait until the final over for victory as Suryakumar Yadav saw his side over the line with a vital 26 not out.

Pandya, captaining in the absence of white-ball veteran Rohit Sharma, was alongside Suryakumar at the end unbeaten on 15 but expressed his disappointment with the surface at home.

"I always believed we will finish the game," Pandya said. "It went quite deep, but that is how it is. In these kinds of games, it is important to not panic.

"Rather than taking risks, we rotated the strike. Having said that, this is a shocker of a pitch. We need to make sure we have better pitches. Even 120 would have been a winning total here.

"We kept to our plans, we made sure they did not rotate the strike, and the wickets kept falling. Dew didn't play much of a role because if you see they were able to spin the ball more than us.

"It was a shocker of a wicket. The ball was flying for even the fast bowlers."

The in-form Suryakumar continues to rise his stock within white-ball cricket, though his 31-ball 26 was a far cry from his usual flamboyance and aggressive shot-making.

Having blasted 112 and 51 in his two previous T20I appearances against Sri Lanka earlier in January, Suryakumar acknowledged an alternate approach was required on Sunday.

"A different version of [Suryakumar] today," he said after receiving the Player of the Match award. "Adapting to the situation was very important. After losing [Washington Sundar], I had to make sure I batted until the end.

"[Sundar's run out] was my mistake, I didn't see where the ball went. Of course, it was a challenging wicket, but you have to be able to adapt.

"We just needed one hit in the end, and it was very important to calm ourselves down.

"Before I got the winning runs, Hardik came up to me and told me you will hit the winning runs this ball. That gave me a lot of confidence."

With an ODI series victory already secured, India will look for a white-ball double over New Zealand in Wednesday's T20I decider in Ahmedabad.

Cummins sat out the 2023 tournament to focus on international cricket but became even hotter property after leading his side to the World Test Championship and last month’s 50-over World Cup on Indian soil.

Four teams vied for the fast bowler’s signature and Sunrisers Hyderabad ended up paying 20.5 crore rupees, eclipsing the previous high of 18.5 crore (£1.77m) Punjab Kings paid for English all-rounder Sam Curran last year.

Cummins, 30, had entered with a base price of just under £200,000 and saw the bidding war up his fee by a factor of 10.

Sunrisers had plenty of budget to play with having released Brook after one season of a £1.3m deal, with the Yorkshireman picking up a healthy but much-reduced payday with the Capitals.

He hit one superb century in his first IPL campaign but was otherwise badly short of runs with just 190 in 11 matches.

Woakes was later drafted for just under £400,000 by Punjab, joining his England team-mates Curran and Liam Livingstone.

Sunrisers also splurged on Cummins’ fellow Australian Travis Head, who capped a stellar year with a match-winning 137 in the World Cup final in Ahmedabad. He cost around £645,000 (6.8 crore) as he returned to the tournament for the first time since 2017.

West Indies T20 captain Rovman Powell was the first player to go under the hammer at the event in Dubai and fetched a surprisingly lavish £700,000 bid from Rajasthan Royals, while New Zealand all-rounder Daryl Mitchell scooped the biggest cheque of his career when he went to Chennai Super Kings for £1.3million.

CSK also signed Mitchell’s fellow Kiwi Rachin Ravindra, the breakout star of the World Cup, for a modest £170,000.

The 22-year-old Paul, who has earned 3 Test match caps so far, was previously invited to join the team for the tour of England but along with Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer turned down the series due to health concerns.

“Keemo Paul to me at this time is not suited to play Test cricket,” Gray told the Mason and Guest Radio program.

“He’s too inconsistent with his bowling, he tries too many things and he cannot work to a game plan.  In Test cricket you need a plan.  You need the sort of deliveries to be patient but also having the wickets to take deliveries but the thing about him is he is not patient.  His batting has declined too,” he added.

Paul made his debut against Bangladesh in 2018 and has taken six wickets in his three games, while conceding 189 runs.  Gray insisted there were enough seamers and spinner Roston Chase already in the squad.  He believes the team would have been better suited keeping discarded batsman Shai Hope around the squad, even if not a part of the first team.

In reply to West Indies ‘A’s 322, Phillips and Seifert mounted an opening stand of 226 when the former was out caught and bowled by Hayden Walsh Jr for 136 that came from 184 balls and included 15 fours and five sixes.

Seifert and Mark Chapman then put on 80 runs together before Seifert was trapped lbw by Raymon Reifer for 111.

Chapman was the final wicket to fall on the day, caught by Romario Shepherd from the bowling of Nicholas Pooran, who had figured of 1 for 3 from the only over he bowled.

Walsh returned figures of 1 for 47 while Reifer took 1 for 34.

The home side took an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series following their win in the final over on Friday night at Eden Park in Auckland. The third and final match will be at Bay Oval on Monday night (2am East Caribbean/1am Jamaica).

Phillips was an automatic choice fo the Man-of-the-Match award as the struck a superb maiden century to pilot New Zealand to a massive total. His career-best knock came off just 51 balls with 10 boundaries and eight sixes before he was caught by substitute Hayden Walsh Jr off skipper Kieron Pollard in the final over.

Left-hander Devon Conway also batted well to end on 65 not out off 37 balls with four fours and four sixes. He helped Phillips add 185 for the third wicket which took the game away from the West Indies.

Asked to score at just under 12 runs per over to win, West Indies never got their momentum going and lost wickets at regular intervals — five batsman scored 20 or more but none reached 30.

Kieron Pollard blasted three huge sixes in an over from Mitch Santner, but the left-arm spinner got his revenge as Pollard fell in that same over — caught on the straight boundary behind the bowler. The skipper top-scored for the second match in a row while Keemo Paul also launched three sixes in a cameo knock at the end.

(Match scores: New Zealand 238-3 off 20 overs (Glenn Phillips 108, Devon Conway 65 not out, Martin Guptill 34). West Indies 166-9 off 20 overs (Kieron Pollard 28, Keemo Paul 26 not out, Shimron Hetmyer 25, Andre Fletcher 20, Kyle Mayers 20; Kyle Jamieson 2-15, Mitchell Santner 2-41)

That is the message from former England batter Kevin Pietersen, who hailed the start Stokes has made as skipper, winning each of his first four Tests.

Stokes and Brendon McCullum have restored interest in the five-day game, with their aggressive intent in the longest format resulting in a series whitewash of New Zealand and victory over India.

In each of those victories, England have chased down scores of more than 275 runs and they saved their best until last with a seven-wicket win over India, completing their highest Test chase of 378 with ease.

Yorkshire duo Jonny Bairstow and Joe Root have been the standout performers for McCullum's side, and Pietersen believes the attitude of Stokes is refreshing for the England set-up and cricket in general.

"They're doing something incredible. The last few run chases, pretty much record-breaking. I have been watching it in astonishment," Pietersen said after playing the Old Course, St Andrews ahead of the 150th Open Championship.

"We were all astonished by Ben Stokes winning the toss and saying, 'we'll chase'. I mean, I'd never heard of that in my life. I was standing with Michael Atherton and Nasser Hussain, and we were like, 'did he just say that?'

"No one's ever said that before and, fair play, if you're going to talk the talk, you have to walk the walk. The wickets have been very good, so they've been able to do that.

"Can you do that in India on day three, day four of a Test match? I'm not so sure but I think these guys are good enough.

"And if they play with that freedom, of spirit and mind, they can achieve some cool things. I'm all in to watch how it goes."

Stokes has courted criticism for embodying England's approach too excessively after somewhat cheap dismissals against New Zealand and India, though, and Pietersen urged for caution from the captain.

"The only thing I do see and want to see is that he does value his wicket a little more than then what I saw in Birmingham, he's too good a player to slog it straight in the air," he added.

"He's too good a player to do that. Just have a look at how Bairstow played has played with freedom of spirit, freedom of mind.

"He accessed all areas of the ground and he puts so much pressure on the opposition. I just think Ben is better than that, and I'm sure he'll accept that, and he'll know that I just want to see him flourishing."

Bairstow has set the benchmark for 'Bazball', an endearing term for McCullum's attacking approach that the New Zealand legend is not too great a fan of.

The 32-year-old scored the second-fastest Test hundred for England at Trent Bridge before reaching three figures in three of his next four innings, the only exception being a rapid 71 not out at Headingley.

His unbeaten 114 against India marked his sixth century of 2022, which is the most by a player while batting at number five or lower in a calendar year and joint-most by an England batter in the same time period (level with Root), and Pietersen backed Bairstow to continue playing freely.

"There's no real pressure because he's not being frowned upon by the powers that be, he is being asked by the senior management to play that way," he continued.

"I think it's a privilege to be able to go out there and just express yourself. The balls up, just give it a smack and everybody says instead of smacking it that hard, I want you to smack it harder – awesome, no pressure."

Harper was responding to questions regarding the upcoming tour that is to run from November 27 to December 15 on i95FM Sports.

During the three-Test tour of England in July, Shimron Hetmyer, Keemo Paul and Darren Bravo declined invitations over concerns about their safety. However, since the tour was successful and the players returned safely, it is likely that all players selected will take up the chance to travel to New Zealand next month.

“There was a briefing recently where the players were informed of what is taking place, what measures have been put in place, what protocols will obtain during the tour,” Harper said. “And when we look at finalizing the squad, we’ll discuss with them whether they are willing to tour or not. At this point, we’ve not had a definite indication from anyone that they’re not interested.”

Harper revealed that the selection process for the squads will begin sometime next week for the three T20 matches and two Tests the West Indies are scheduled to play.

“There’ll be a T20 International team and, of course, the Test team and as usual now, we’ll be taking some reserve players on tour which will serve to provide backup players if needed during the tour as well as provide practice players,” Harper said.

“What is likely to happen because of scheduling, is the Test team is likely to go out first and have an early camp and some of the T20 players who are in the region will travel with that Test team and the T20 players who are involved in the IPL will join the team later.”

After the West Indies made 180 for 7 from their reduced allotment of 16 overs due to rain, New Zealand replied with 179 for 5 off 15.2 overs to win by Duckworth/Lewis method.

Keemo Paul bowled five no-balls while conceding 39 runs from three overs while Kesrick Williams served up a steady diet of half-volleys going for 33 runs in two overs. Meanwhile Fabian Allen yielded 32 runs from two overs as New Zealand raced to a comfortable victory.

Notwithstanding the West Indies batsmen losing five wickets for one run after scoring 58 from the first 19 balls of their innings, Pollard’s comments suggested that had the bowlers done a better job, the outcome might have been different.

“It was an entertaining game of cricket for the fans and the general public, something that they haven’t got for a very long time. In terms of disciplines, in the bowling aspect of things, I thought we were a bit erratic, a bit indisciplined and in international cricket if you bowl so many no balls and if you are so inconsistent in your execution, you’re definitely going to end up on the losing side,” Pollard said.

Despite losing three wickets in the first six overs, New Zealand were going at close to 10 runs an over before Ross Taylor got run out without scoring to leave the home side at 63 for 4. Pollard said the West Indies failed to capitalize.

“Having them go at the start at 10s and 11s, you want to get a couple of wickets and put them on the backfoot, exactly what we did. I just thought we were not disciplined enough to stay in the game a bit longer and carry down to the end because sometimes you’re going at 12s, 13s, comfortably but when it’s crunch time, sometimes the pressure wants to get the better of you, coming down to the end I thought a couple less boundaries and we would be right in the game.”

Pollard said he will not be put off for the loss and vowed to bounce back for game two on Saturday.

“I am here for the fight. I am not going to back down.”