India and New Zealand will face off in the third ODI at the PCA IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali on Sunday.
The visitors registered a crucial victory in the second ODI to level the series 1-1. The win was not only important in terms of the result of this series, but will also give Kane Williamson’s men a much needed confidence boost after getting whitewashed in the Test series and losing the first ODI.
Incidentally, Thursday’s victory was New Zealand’s first win over the Men in Blue in an ODI in India since 2003.
On the other hand, India will look to bounce back after a disappointing batting performance in New Delhi. The inability of the Indian batsmen to convert their starts into big scores is likely to worry MS Dhoni the most.
DATE, TIME, VENUE INFO
Date: October 23
Time: 12:00 GST, 13:30 local time (IST), 08:00 GMT
Venue: Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali.
WHERE TO WATCH, LIVE STREAMING INFO
TV: UAE – OSN Sports Cricket HD, India – Star Sports 1, HD 1 (English), Star Sports 3, HD 3 (Hindi), UK – Sky Sports 3 HD
Online streaming: hotstar.com, Hotstar app (in India only)
LIVE blog: Sport360.com/livescore
TEAM NEWS, SQUAD, PREDICTED XI
INDIA SQUAD: MS Dhoni (c), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Suresh Raina, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Amit Mishra, Jasprit Bumrah, Dhawal Kulkarni, Umesh Yadav, Mandeep Singh, Kedar Jadhav.
India, who looked invincible in the Test series and the first ODI, were brought down to earth by some disciplined bowling from New Zealand on Thursday.
Rohit Sharma suffered a shoulder injury while batting in the second ODI and that could be an area of concern for the Indian team. If Rohit does miss out, then expect Mandeep Singh to take his place.
It is still uncertain if Suresh Raina, who missed the first two ODIs due to illness, will recover in time for the game in Mohali. Even if the Uttar Pradesh batsman is available for selection, one shouldn’t be surprised if Kedar Jadhav keeps his place in the XI after an impressive cameo in Delhi.
With Axar Patel picking up just one wicket in the first two ODIs, Jayant Yadav could get his chance instead.
PREDICTED INDIA XI: Rohit, Rahane, Kohli, Pandey, Dhoni (c/wk), Jadhav, Pandya, Jayant, Mishra, Yadav, Bumrah.
NEW ZEALAND SQUAD: Kane Williamson (c), Martin Guptill, Tom Latham, Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Anton Devcich, Matt Henry, James Neesham, Luke Ronchi, BJ Watling, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee.
The Kiwis took the risk of playing just five bowlers – with one of them being Anton Devcich – in the second ODI at New Delhi, but the gamble paid off as they won the match by six runs. Devcich bowled nine overs without any success, but Martin Guptill picked up two scalps from just one over.
Despite Guptill’s heroic over, expect New Zealand to go with five regular bowlers in the third ODI. Jimmy Neesham could well make a return to the team after being dropped for the Delhi ODI.
Ross Taylor’s form is still a worry for the Kane Williamson-led side, but don’t expect him to be dropped yet.
New Zealand will be hoping for a bigger contribution from their lower middle-order with Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi particularly effective.
PREDICTED NEW ZEALAND XI: Guptill, Latham, Williamson (c), Taylor, Anderson, Ronchi (wk), Neesham, Santner, Southee, Henry, Boult.
FORM
(Last five matches – with latest match first)
INDIA: L W W W W
NEW ZEALAND: W L W L W
MATCH PREDICTION
India to win.
