In an attempt to break their Caribbean drought, New Zealand’s bowlers have begun planning their assault after seeing the effect a swashbuckling Chris Gayle can have on a bowling attack.
Gayle smashed nine sixes in his 125 off 107 balls at Sabina Park in Kingston yesterday, the hosts going on to win by 55 runs, defending a total of 315-5.
Having scored an 85 and 53 in the T20 matches, and a 63 not out in the first ODI, Gayle seems to be in unstoppable form.
But New Zealand paceman Tim Southee, who took 3-55, says Gayle’s dominance would only intensify their bid to induce his first failure of the tour.
"The first 10 balls we bowl to him are crucial. He tends to have a look early on, and set himself. He's a little bit vulnerable early on so we just need to come up with a plan to do it," Southee says. "It's obviously hard on these slow wickets and we'd like to put a few around his ears but the wickets haven't really been conducive to that sort of bowling."
As the Black Caps eye a series defeat with two matches to spare, Southee sees Gayle’s wicket as match-defining.
"He [Gayle] has been a massive influence in their success so far. We firmly believe if we get him early then we've got a very good chance of running through the rest of them and getting a score we can definitely chase down."
Southee felt the death bowling, which saw the West Indies score 69 off the last 10 overs, was "outstanding", however the horse had bolted alarmingly by then.
The big question ahead of game three is Brendon McCullum's potential availability, after no-one in the New Zealand top five passed 60 in the first two ODIs.
Having been summoned ahead of schedule by coach John Wright, McCullum is expected to arrive in St Kitts tomorrow or Wednesday, and could be considered for Thursday's game.
His presence would add some starch to a top order where Rob Nicol and Daniel Flynn have both missed out after two promising starts.
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