West Indies still in race for World Cup semis, insists Holder

Jason Holder on Friday claimed his struggling West Indies are still in the hunt to qualify for the World Cup semi-finals ahead of their game against unbeaten New Zealand in Manchester.

Holder will be without injured all-rounder Andre Russell on Saturday, but the West Indies skipper is adamant his team shouldn't be counted out yet.

West Indies started the tournament by beating Pakistan in their opener but soon lost momentum with defeats to Australia, England and Bangladesh.

Another loss would effectively end their last four hopes, but Holder says it is just a matter of bringing their best game to the table against the Black Caps, a side who they out-played in a pre-tournament warm up last month.

"I think we still have a possible chance to qualify for the semi-finals, but we've just got to take it game by game," Holder told reporters at Old Trafford.

"This encounter with New Zealand is very important. We all know what's at stake and we just have to come and bring our 'A' game. It's as simple as that."
"I think one guy who probably may be definitely out tomorrow is Russell. I don't think he's fit enough to go tomorrow. But everybody else should be good to go."
"But, yeah, we've had some pretty good discussions over the last couple of days. And tomorrow is just a day to deliver."