Ahmedabad: The third and final match of the Twenty20 cricket series between India and New Zealand will be played today. The match will start at 7 pm in Ahmedabad.
As the series is tied at 1-1, whoever wins today will win the series. New Zealand’s goal is to win the first ever bilateral series in India. India and New Zealand have played 55 international series in the last ten years. India won 47 of them. Australia (2019) and South Africa (2015) are the only teams to win the series by defeating India “in India”. New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner declared that their goal is to write history. Indian skipper Hardik Pandya is under the pressure of the domestic series.
Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera is batting friendly. Both teams have scored more than 160 runs in three of the last five matches played here. His highest score was 224 for two against England. As the weather conditions are also favorable for the race, run rain can be expected. The toss will influence the match. Team India coach Rahul Dravid and captain Hardik Pandya are trying hard to strengthen the batting. The in-form Prithvi Shah is also likely to be included in the final XI. Shah may play in place of one of Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tripathi. There are concerns that the absence of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Lokesh Rahul will affect the batting negatively. After scoring a double century against Bangladesh, Ishan could not continue his good form.
Ishan scored 210 runs in December. In the eight matches that followed, he could not even take half of that. Not being able to maintain the form in ODIs in Twenty20s is bothering Gill. Tripathi, who played at number three in Kohli’s absence, could not capitalize on the opportunity. Without Suryakumar Yadav and skipper Hardik Pandya, India would have lost the second Twenty20. Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav are likely to be played together as the pitch at the Narendra Modi Stadium favors spin. Pacer Umran Malik is also likely to be played instead of Chahal. Arshadeep Singh, the villain in the first Twenty20, was stingy in Lucknow after conceding runs. Also took two wickets. Glenn Phillips and Mitchell Bracewell could not continue their ODI success into Twenty20s. But New Zealand’s hope lies in the middle order. Number three Mark Chapman is also expected to rise to excellence. New Zealand used eight bowlers in the second match. All four spinners bowled four overs each. They will not want to make any major changes in the team. Leg-spinner Ish Sodhi, who is the leading wicket-taker in Twenty20, is free from injury and is a plus point for New Zealand.
Indian Team: Harkid Pandya (captain), Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan, Shubman Gill, Prithvi Shah, Deepak Hooda, Rahul Tripathi, Jitesh Sharma, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshadeep Singh, Umran Malik, Shivam Mavi, Mukesh Kumar .
New Zealand Team: Mitchell Santner (captain), Finn Allen, Mitchell Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Dane Clever, Jacob Duffy, Lukey Ferguson, Benjamin Lister, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rippon, Henty Shipley, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner .
