Windies coy over whether Gayle will play

11:34 am on 21 March 2015

The Black Caps are set to make one change to their lineup for today's Cricket World Cup quarter-final against the West Indies in Wellington.

Fast bowler Adam Milne who missed the last pool match against Bangladesh through injury is set to return in place of Mitchell McClenaghan.

Black Caps captain Brendon McCullum says going into the match as favourites but says they're not bothered by the tag and concedes despite having not lost a game so far their tournament could be over come tonight.

"Look if someone from the West Indies turns up and plays a match-winning innings which is good enough to overcome us at our best then I can live with that, that's just how the game is played, but I'm still confident that we've got the team that, even if we don't have the perfect trip, we're still a chance of being there at the finish."

Meanwhile the West Indies are keeping coy on just whether opening batsman Chris Gayle will be fit to play.

Gayle has had an injection in his back earlier this week to try and aid his long-standing back injury.

Gayle didn't play against United Arab Emirates in the Windies final pool game and earlier this week batsman Darren Sammy said Gayle wouldn't miss this match.

But West Indies skipper Jason Holder won't confirm whether Gayle will play, although he's confident they can still win without him.

"We won the last game without him so I would say we would win without him. Obviously he's been a very good player for us over the years but we've got people (that can come in)... we've got Jonathon Charles who scored a half century in the last game, so we've got people who can fill his boots in a sense but having Chris there would be a plus for us," Holder says.

Chris Gayle and the West Indies squad at training at the Basin Reserve, Wellington.

Chris Gayle and the West Indies squad at training at the Basin Reserve, Wellington. Photo: RNZ / Stephen Hewson

The West Indies could simply be trying to play mind games with the Black Caps but Holder maintains a decision whether Gayle plays won't be made until before the match.

Gayle only took a limited part in training at the Basin Reserve on Friday morning and wasn't moving freely at times.

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