Toss New Zealand chose to field vs West Indies
Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner began life as New Zealand captain, enforced in the absence of Tim Southee, by winning the toss and bowling under grey skies at the Mount Bay Oval.
Scott Kuggeleijn, Hamish Bennett and all-rounder Daryll Mitchell came into the team for the third and final T20I. Santner put his decision down to the possibility of rain, and DLS adjustments coming into play later on in the match.
With the Test series against West Indies due to start on December 3, Southee, Kyle Jamieson and Ross Taylor have travelled to Hamilton to join the Test squad, leaving Kuggeleijn, Mark Chapman and Doug Bracewell as their replacements in the squad.
West Indies made two changes to their XI, with Kieron Pollard reporting that Shimron Hetmyer had suffered a delayed concussion as a result of being pinged on his helmet by a Lockie Ferguson bouncer in Sunday’s game. Keemo Paul also made way after a couple of indifferent outings with the ball, and Romario Shepherd and Hayden Walsh made their way into the team.
New Zealand won the first T20I in Auckland on November 27 by five wickets in a rain-shortened encounter, and then rode on the fastest T20I century for a New Zealander by Glenn Phillips in the second match in Mount Maunganui on November 29 to establish a winning 2-0 lead in the series.
New Zealand: 1 Martin Guptill, 2 Tim Seifert (wk), 3 Devon Conway, 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Daryll Mitchell, 6 Jimmy Neesham, 7 Mitchell Santner (capt), 8 Scott Kuggeleijn, 9 Ish Sodhi, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Hamish Bennett
West Indies: 1 Andre Fletcher, 2 Brandon King, 3 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 4 Kyle Mayers,5 Kieron Pollard (capt), 6 Rovman Powell , 7 Romario Shepherd, 8 Fabian Allen, 9 Hayden Walsh, 10 Sheldon Cottrell, 11 Oshane Thomas