Deadline: February 5, 2020 at 7.30 AM IST
Venue: Seddon Park, Hamilton
Pitch report
Until Rohit Sharma batted, it looked like a 200-plus pitch during the third T20I. His 65 runs included 6 fours and 3 sixes. However, when India reached the middle-overs, Virat Kohli signalled to the dressing room that 165 would be enough. The ball gripped the surface, making it difficult for the batsmen to go big right away. Ish Sodhi and Yuzvendra Chahal, the wrist-spinners, conceded 59 runs in 8 overs. It will be interesting to see if India play all three spinners.
News
Rohit Sharma has been ruled out for the remainder of the series due to the calf injury he suffered during the final T20I, while Kane Williamson will be unavailable for the first two ODIs to nurse his injured shoulder.
Virat Kohli has confirmed that Prithvi Shah and Mayank Agarwal will open the innings, so KL Rahul continues getting used to batting in the middle-order.
Fantasy team
We have opted for a fantasy team on the basis of players’ impact, recent performances, and credit points.
You can also check players’ performances in the last 5 matches. Tap on the players’ images to get the data while making your fantasy team.
Wicketkeepers: KL Rahul, Tom Latham
Batsmen: Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli (c), Ross Taylor (vc), Martin Guptill
All-rounders: James Neesham, Ravindra Jadeja
Bowlers: Tim Southee, Mohammad Shami
NOTE: Pick your fantasy cricket team wisely.
Power players
Ross Taylor and Martin Guptill average over 50 at Seddon Park, having scored 5 hundreds and 7 fifties between them. In addition, Taylor has an impressive record against India in the format: he has scored 1,191 runs in 32 matches, including 2 hundreds.
Virat Kohli averages a whopping 65.1 against New Zealand. 5 of his 43 hundreds have come against them. Period.
KL Rahul has scored 469 runs in 10 matches in 2020 – the most by an Indian batsman. He has been the most picked player in fantasy cricket this year. His form and fortune have been extraordinary.
Value picks
The wickets in New Zealand suit Mohammad Shami‘s style of bowling. He has managed as many as 20 wickets in 9 matches here. Yuzvendra Chahal and he were the joint-highest wicket-takers (9) during India’s tour in New Zealand last year.
James Neesham won’t be tweeting as he was during the T20I series. He has been summoned back to the national side, and the onus of going big at the death will be on him. He has taken as many wickets in 59 ODIs and scored 1,247 runs with a strike rate of 98.9. His off-cutter will be handy on this sticky wicket.
Probable XIs
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Mark Chapman, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (c & wk), Colin de Grandhomme, Jimmy Neesham, Mitchell Santner/Ish Sodhi, Kyle Jamieson/Tim Southee, Hamish Bennett, Scott Kuggeleijn
India: Mayank Agarwal, Prithvi Shaw, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal/Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami/Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah
Also, get to know the tips & tricks on how to play fantasy cricket.