India have a golden chance to wrap up the five-match T20I series against New Zealand as they arrive in Wellington for the third game with a 2-0 lead.
The visitors have made it look comfortable so far, and the conditions in the capital could make it easier still.
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Both matches in Christchurch ended with India chasing under the lights, and the dew and the 8pm start times made batting second a lot easier. New Zealand’s sloppy fielding then handed India much of what the conditions hadn’t already given them.
The hosts have reached Wellington in a weaker position as well, since Matt Henry has been rested for the remaining games and Lockie Ferguson will sit this one out.
With both of those bowlers missing, the Blackcaps’ seam attack looks short of experience and firepower. Their pacers have picked up only four wickets across the series so far, which shows how little pressure they’ve put on India’s batters.
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Live scorecard
New Zealand Batting updates
After 16 overs, NZ are 156/3
New Zealand sustained their attacking template between overs 11 and 16, adding 56 runs despite Axar Patel dismissing Glenn Phillips. Daryl Mitchell spearheaded the middle-order charge, as he converted his brisk start into an authoritative, unbeaten 70. Partnered by an enterprising Bevon Jacobs, Mitchell targeted India’s seamers to carry the Black Caps past the 150-run mark, leaving the hosts primed for a grandstand finish at 156/3.
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After 10 overs, NZ are 100/2
New Zealand controlled the middle-overs phase between overs 6 and 10, as they plundered 42 runs despite losing Finn Allen to Nitish Kumar Reddy. Daryl Mitchell led the assault with a fluent 43 off 23 balls, targeting Prince Yadav to keep the scoring rate hovering around 10 an over. Although India managed a crucial breakthrough at 90/2, an unbeaten Mitchell and Glenn Phillips consolidated effectively to leave the hosts at 100/2.
After six overs, NZ are 58/1
New Zealand recovered emphatically from the early loss of Tim Seifert to finish the Powerplay on 58/1 in 6.0 overs (CRR: 9.66), with Finn Allen and Daryl Mitchell plundering 14 runs off Arshdeep Singh’s final over of the phase.
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Toss result: India opted to bowl first.
New Zealand XI: Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (wk), Bevon Jacobs, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Matthew Fisher, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Jacob Duffy
India XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh
|
Team |
Win probability |
|
NZ |
30% |
|
IND |
70% |
India are the favourites to win this match at 1.74, while the odds for New Zealand to win are 2.06.
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* Odds are indicative based on current market pricing and subject to change closer to the toss.
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