Will West Indies turn to Hetmyer to tackle their spin woes?

How much can change over 48 hours.

In the opening ODI, New Zealand spinners delivered 25 overs and picked up only two wickets. Two days later, they combined to effect all nine of their bowler dismissals. West Indies went from 63 for 0 to 138 all out – a collapse of 10 for 75 with left-arm spinner Jayden Lennox taking five.

That is West Indies ODI batting in a nutshell, particularly at home, where they have averaged almost 53 against pace since the start of 2024 but just above 38 against spin.

And their spin struggles are not limited to home games. Since the start of 2024, West Indies’ top seven have an ODI average of 32.79 against spin.

That is only better than South Africa (31.96) and Zimbabwe (25.07) among Full Member teams.

At 1-1, with Providence hosting its last game of the series before the teams move to what could be friendlier batting conditions in Bridgetown, Barbados, how West Indies tackle spin could be critical.

Among the options West Indies have as they strive for a better showing in this facet of their game is bringing in Shimron Hetmyer, who could match up nicely against Lennox and Mitchell Santner.

In the spotlight – Hetmyer and Nicholls

Shimron Hetmyer’s ODI appearances for West Indies have been sporadic – his last match was in June 2025 and the one before that in November 2024.

With an eye on next year’s World Cup, West Indies have reintegrated him in the side. He did not get a game against Sri Lanka last month but could well get a look-in in this series.

Hetmyer had middling returns for Seattle Orcas in MLC 2026, scoring 164 runs off the 120 balls he faced.

But if his recent outings for West Indies are anything to go by – a strike rate of 186.46 in the T20 World Cup and 157.40 in the 2-1 T20I series win over Sri Lanka, albeit in a different format – expect Hetmyer to sparkle in maroon.

Henry Nicholls has played 17 of the 34 ODIs New Zealand have played since the 2023 World Cup. In eight matches this calendar year, he has two fifty-plus scores but averages 25.12 while striking at 70.52.

He has made starts but hasn’t managed to convert them into big scores consistently.

Time could be running out for him to stake a claim to be in next year’s World Cup, given Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Devon Conway and Tim Seifert are all due to return at some point.

Team news

West Indies could bring Hetmyer in as they aim to end the Guyana leg of the series on a high.

West Indies (probable): 1 John Campbell, 2 Ackeem Auguste, 3 Keacy Carty, 4 Shai Hope (capt, wk), 5 Sherfane Rutherford, 6 Shimron Hetmyer, 7 Gudakesh Motie, 8 Khary Pierre, 9 Alzarri Joseph, 10 Matthew Forde, 11 Vitel Lawes.

Even if the fast bowlers have had a limited role to play in Providence, it will be interesting to see if New Zealand hand a chance to Kristian Clarke, who made his ODI debut against India at the start of this year.

New Zealand (probable): 1 Henry Nicholls, 2 Will Young, 3 Mark Chapman, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Michael Bracewell, 7 Mitchell Santner (capt), 8 Nathan Smith, 9 Jacob Duffy, 10 Matthew Fisher, 11 Jayden Lennox.

Pitch and conditions

Twelve of the 13 bowler wickets in the second ODI fell to spin, highlighting the nature of the surface at Providence Stadium. So far in this series, spinners have taken 22 wickets as opposed to the six by the quicks.

Expect more of the same before the caravan moves to Barbados. Rain is forecast in the morning but a washout seems unlikely. (cricinfo)