New Zealand chose to bat vs West Indies

New Zealand made two changes to their playing XI from the second T20I against West Indies and elected to bat first in sunny Nelson in a bid to take the series lead in the three-match T20I series.

Mark Chapman, the hero of the second T20I, was forced to miss the third T20I due to sickness. He was replaced by Mitchell Hay, while allrounder James Neesham has been brought back in place of Zak Foulkes.

"This wicket looks browner than what we've come up against," New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said on his decision to bat. "It looks like a good surface, obviously, a slightly bigger ground with a little bit of breeze."

West Indies captain Shai Hope said that he would have elected to bowl, so he wasn't fussed about the toss. He confirmed three changes to the playing XI, with Roston Chase, Jayden Seales and Brandon King all ruled out "taking a bit of rest". In came Amir Jangoo, Sherfane Rutherford and Shamar Springer.

"It looks like a pretty good surface, so I don't think it will change too much as the game rolls on," Hope said. The five-match T20I series is currently locked in 1-1.

Playing XIs

New Zealand: 1 Tim Robinson, 2 Devon Conway, 3 Rachin Ravindra, 4 Mitch Hay (wk), 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Michael Bracewell, 7 Mitchell Santner (capt), 8 Jimmy Neesham, 9 Kyle Jamieson, 10 Ish Sodhi, 11 Jacob Duffy

West Indies: 1 Alick Athanaze, 2 Amir Jangoo, 3 Shai Hope (capt & wk), 4 Sherfane Rutherford, 5 Ackeem Auguste, 6 Rovman Powell, 7 Jason Holder, 8 Romario Shepherd, 9 Matthew Forde, 10 Shamar Springer, 11 Akeal Hosein