After New Zealand suffering a crushing loss against Afghanistan, West Indies captain Rovman Powell thinks his West Indies team is playing a "undercooked" New Zealand at the ideal moment.

In Guyana, New Zealand played Afghanistan in the opening match of the T20 World Cup 2024. The encounter was a disaster for the Kiwis, who were defeated by 84 runs and bowled out for the lowest score in T20 World Cup history.

"Definitely, if there's a good time to play New Zealand, I think it's now. As you said, they're a little bit undercooked. The pressure is really on them, because this game decides whether they go on: yes or no. Having said that, we're not focusing on New Zealand: we're focusing on what we have to do,” Powell said.

The only thing separating West Indies from the top of their group is Afghanistan's stronger NRR, but their two victories have come against PNG and Uganda, two of their group's weaker opponents. Both Afghanistan and New Zealand will put their title-winning credentials to the test over the course of the next six days.

"I think if you look at the last year - the last 12-14 months - West Indies have played very good T20 cricket. So, it's just a continuation of us doing that, even though it's a World Cup. The guys have done a lot of hard work coming into this World Cup, so hopefully we can show that hard work. It's two of the more traditional nations, Afghanistan, and New Zealand, but I think once we focus on ourselves, we should be okay,” Powell added.