Cricket: West Indies ready themselves for Kiwi onslaught

Captain Jason Holder is eager to get the West Indies' tour of New Zealand back on track at Cobham Oval. Photo/Michael Cunningham

West Indies captain Jason Holder knows the threats the Black Caps possess.

However, with trump cards like openers Chris Gayle and Evin Lewis to call on, confidence is high in the West Indies' camp ahead of today'sODI against New Zealand at Cobham Oval.

The West Indies are coming into the match fresh off a six-wicket loss to a New Zealand XI at the ground on Saturday, though that isn't playing much in their psyche.

Holder, who missed the second test due to a suspension for a slow over rate, is raring to go.

"I'm definitely looking forward to getting back out there. It's been a while. It's a new format, new team and a new series so that's exciting," he said.

"There were two completely different surfaces there. The one we played on was a used pitch and was very slow.

"The one for the match has a bit of grass on it so I presume it'll be a good batting track. I don't think it'll change much throughout the course of the match."

The West Indies have brought in reinforcements for the limited-overs leg of the tour, the standouts being self-proclaimed "World Boss" Gayle and emerging talent Lewis.

Holder said both players brought different characteristics to the side despite their shared talent of scoring quickly.

"It means a lot having Chris in the side. He's played a lot of cricket so he brings experience and a lot of knowledge," he said.

"We had a great talk with the team and he pretty much led the discussion so it's good to see a guy like him able to come in and offer his knowledge and to see the younger guys take it in and make use of it.

"The beauty of Evin is when he gets a score, he goes big and that's great for any young batsman. It says a lot about his character. He's hungry for runs.

"The ideal thing is to have him a lot more consistent. Not just him, but the rest of our top batters."

In their last ODI series, the West Indies fell to a 4-0 away defeat to England. Far from the historically great side they once were, the West Indies have fallen to a point where they need to qualify for the 2019 Cricket World Cup.

Holder said the side would bite the qualification bullet and work towards future successes.

"A lot of West Indies followers are surprised we're in the position we're in but due to the changes in the qualification process, here we are," he said.

There's not much I can do about that. We just have to control what we can and that's the present and future, namely this ODI series against New Zealand.

"We can't change the past so there's no point in dwelling on it."

Neither side has confirmed their 11 for the match but Black Caps captain Kane Williamson said Doug Bracewell would replace all-rounder Colin de Grandhomme in the lineup.

The game starts at 11am.

New Zealand (from): Kane Williamson (c), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, George Worker.

West Indies (from): Jason Holder (c), Jason Mohammed, Ronsford Beaton, Sheldon Cotterell, Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Kyle Hope, Shai Hope, Evin Lewis, Nikita Miller, Ashley Nurse, Rovman Powell, Shannon Gabriel, Chadwick Walton, Kesrick Williams.