UPBEAT KIWIS FACE WINDIES

have snared the best of batsmen.

Energetic fielding has trimmed run rates and with the bat, McCullum and Williamson at the top of the order are seldom out of the runs.

Victories over Australia, Scotland and Bangladesh were close as New Zealand banked on their all-or-nothing approach getting them through and refused to slow the pace and play for safety.

The unpredictable West Indies, meanwhile, completed pool play with a three-win, threeloss record and only scraped into the playoffs courtesy of a superior run rate over Ireland.

Their high points were scattered, with the enigmatic Chris Gayle turn- ing on the power to smack 215 against Zimbabwe while his other four innings produced 64 runs in total.

Young skipper Jason Holder took 4/27 against United Arab Emirates but went for more than 10 an over when they were thumped by South Africa who scored 408/5 and rolled the West Indies for 151. But Vettori dismissed the relevance of pool form when it came to the playoffs.

“All the teams that eventually make it have got match winners. So you can’t sit back and say a team’s not in form or haven’t played well because you go into it thinking that a team is going to play their best.”

The West Indies have already tasted must-win tension and survived when anything less than a comprehensive win over UAE in their final pool match could have put the former two-times champions on an early flight home.

New Zealand have confirmed fast bowler Adam Milne has recovered from the shoulder injury that kept him out of their last game against Bangladesh and they are likely to field the same XI who appeared in their first five games. The West Indies believe Gayle will be fit to play after missing their last outing with a flareup of a back injury but there were question marks over the rest of their line up.

— AFP