Hamilto: Team India will aim to continue their rich vein of form and seal their first-ever T20I series win in New Zealand when they take on the Black Caps in the third match at the Seddon Park on Wednesday.
The visitors dominated New Zealand in all the departments in the two games played so far.
In the first match, India chased down the 204-run target with utmost ease, showing their batting depth whereas in the second T20I, it were the bowlers of the Indian team who restricted the Black Caps to a below par total of 132/5 at the Eden Park, which the Men in Blue again chased down without breaking much sweat.
K.L. Rahul and Shreyar Iyer have been India's linchpin when it comes to batting. Rahul, in particular, has impressed everyone and seems to enjoy the dual role of opening the innings as well as keeping wickets.
Iyer, on the other hand, has showed tremendous maturity and application and has made sure he owns the much-debated no. 4 spot.
Meanwhile, Kane Williamson will hope they come out with an improved performance in all the three departments and keep the series alive. New Zealand have been hampered with injuries to multiple regular players compiled with their poor run in the recent times.
While pacers Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson are unavailable for the series due to injuries, usually dependable all-rounders Colin de Grandhomme and Mitchell Santner have been out of form and have not been able to trouble the Indian batters even slightly.
Williamson might be tempted to bring in Daryl Mitchell or Scott Kuggeleijn in place of Blair Tickner, who has picked up just one wicket in the series so far, conceding 68 runs in six overs.
Virat Kohli may prefer not to tinker with the winning combination and field the same XI in Hamilton, making sure they continue with their winning streak and seal the series.
The boundaries at Seddon Park are bigger in comparison to the Eden Park and thus one may not be able to see as many sixes as were hit in the previous two matches in Auckland, especially the first one where bowlers from both the sides were taken to cleaners.
Teams’ H2H T20 RECORD
India: 5
New Zealand: 8
Weather | Pitch Report
— Chances of rain in today’s game is on the highers side. The showers are expected in the morning, however, the weather is expected to be clear during the game time. The temperature during the match is expected to range between 19°C and 23°C.
— Seddon Park has hosted a total of 18 T20I. NZ has the run rate of less than nine in only one occassion. With the pitch clearly favouring the batsmen, the spinners have an advantage compared to the pacers.
IN SPOTLIGHT
India: KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Virat Kohli, Ravindra Jadeja
New Zealand: Ross Taylor, Colin Munro, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi
Probable Playing XI
India: Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul (WK), Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja, Shivam Dube, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (c), Tim Seifert (wk), Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Hamish Bennett/Blair Tickner, Scott Kuggeleijn.
Also Read: IND vs NZ T20I: Indian skipper Virat Kohli to achieve yet another milestone?
source https://www.freepressjournal.in/sports/cricket/new-zealand-vs-india-poised-for-take-off
0 comments:
Post a Comment