India vs New Zealand, 3rd ODI : Preview and Predicted Playing XI
Virat Kohli has been rested for the final two ODIs in ongoing series against New Zealand. Rohit Sharma, the stand-in skipper, will aim to leave no stones unturned in the third ODI and seal the series before heading back, when both teams clash at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Monday, January 28
Head to Head Overall: New Zealand have hosted India in 99 completed ODI fixtures, and have won on 45 occasions, while the Indian's have dominated the opponents on 53 occasions. One match has ended in a tie.
Head to Head in Mount Maunganui: In their first-ever clash at Bay Oval, the Men in Blue completely dominated the Kiwis to register a comprehensive 90 run win. Batting first, India posted a strong 324/4 on the board and then bundled out the Kiwis for 234 to seal the game.
India
The Indians continued from where they left in the series opener and didn't let the Kiwis open their arms throughout the process. They have now beaten New Zealand in the last four fixtures and will aim to make it 5 in 5 in the next one.
Batting
The Indian batters were quite clinical in their effort and came into the field with positive intent in their last outing, which clearly showed in their batting.
Openers Rohit Sharma (87 runs from 96 balls) and Shikhar Dhawan (66 runs from 67 balls) laid the platform, which was carried forward by all the batters coming down the order. They mostly remained unaffected by the opponent's pace battery and were scoring runs with the ease.
Skipper Kohli (43 runs from 47 balls) and Ambati Rayudu (47 runs from 49 balls) came out with a steady show, while MS Dhoni (unbeaten 48 from 33 balls) and Kedar Jadhav (unbeaten 22 from 10 balls) decided to take the aerial route by smashing heavenly boundaries.
With the kind of form Indian top order is going, they are definitely going to make it difficult for their opponents in the third game as well.
Bowling
The Indian KulCha has been quite un-digestible for the Kiwis and they seem helpless against the spin-duo. Both have clearly exposed the chinks in their armours and have shared 12 wickets between them.
The pace duo of Bhuvaneshwar Kumar and Mohammad Shami have been in good touch in recent times and they have chipped in with two and four wickets respectively. These four are once again expected to trouble the opponents.
Expected Playing XI
Virat Kohli (C), Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (W), Kedar Jadhav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma.
New Zealand
The Kiwis lost the first two fixtures of this series by a hefty margin and now find themselves trapped in a situation where they have no other option except to win.
Batting
The New Zealand batters are failing to convert their starts, which has been the case in both games, while the repetitive failure of openers adds salt to their wounds.
They desperately need these two to provide a certain platform with big knocks, as it puts unnecessary pressure on the middle order batsmen. While skipper Kane Williamson along with experienced Ross Taylor hold the key in the middle order and in case of another top-order failure, they must back themselves up to get the team towards s decent score.
Bowling
If they want to have any chance to conquer the Indians, they need their bowlers to rattle the Indian top order early on, which they have failed to do on both occasions so far.
They will back Trent Boult and Lockie Ferguson to put their best effort and get a few scalps upfront, while they will also bank on the likes of Ish Sodhi and Doug Bracewell to play second fiddle and slow down the opponents scoring rate with few tidy overs.
Expected Playing XI
Kane Williamson (C), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (W), Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Mitchell Santner, Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult and Colin Munro.