The India vs New Zealand ODI series has reached a decider and that finale takes place in Visakhapatnam on Saturday as both sides seek a win in what has been a wonderfully competitive set of matches.
It was New Zealand who won the fourth match of the series on Wednesday to set up this decider and for those who believe in things like momentum it is they who have it heading into this one. India won’t give the series up without a fight though so this should be a great match.
India
The Indians will be disappointed not to have already won the series. Having restricted New Zealand to a modest looking total in the previous match they faltered badly with the bat and the scoreline ended up flattering them. That young middle order will be under pressure to deliver here with the series on the line.
One area where the home side don’t need to improve is with the ball where they have been very competitive. They have managed to keep tabs on New Zealand’s top order and then really restricted them in the death overs and if they can do that again they will open up the chance to win the series.
New Zealand
Given how long they have been away from home for you have to give New Zealand plenty of credit for their endeavours in this series. Many sides will have seen the plane home in sight and slackened off but that isn’t how this proud side do things and it would be a big surprise if they don’t have one more big effort in them.
If they are to win the series then on a good batting track they will need to make sure they bat the full 50 overs with the same intensity throughout but they know they can bowl India out and that is never a bad thing to know that is for sure.
Team News
India may well have looked to change things had they already won the series but the fact that they haven’t might mean that they go into this one unchanged. If they do make a change it could be to bring a batsman into the side but that is unlikely.
New Zealand have to decide whether to stick with Anton Devcich or go for Corey Anderson. Anderson didn’t offer much earlier in the series but his experience could be vital in a match like this. Ish Sodhi could also be vulnerable too.
Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium
There have been five previous ODIs on this ground. India won the first four of them but they lost the last one when the West Indies produced an excellent run chase to deprive them of their 100% record. New Zealand play here for the first time in this format.
The last four matches here have been won by the side chasing and it was only a score of 356 in the first game which meant that wasn’t chased down so this isn’t an easy ground to defend. It is a high scoring ground with 259/7 being the lowest score recorded in those five matches.
Betting
Given the nature of the ground being hard to defend it is difficult to bet on the outcome of this match with any confidence until the toss has been made and we know who is batting second. I guess for those needing to bet before the coin flip New Zealand would be the value in what isn’t too far from win the toss and bat second and win the game but given the potential rain around I’m not pulling the trigger there.
There is a little bit of rain around which may well see many of the side markets voided so I’m just going to try a small top India batsman bet to keep me going in this match. Not surprisingly it comes in the form of Virat Kohli.
It is fair to say Kohli hasn’t been at his very best in this series but he still has scores of 85*, 154* and 45 to his name in it and his record on this ground is insane even for him. He averages 111.33 in ODIs on this ground with scores of 118, 117 and 99. A repeat of those should see him land the top bat honours at 5/2.
Tips
Back V.Kohli Top India Batsman for a 3/10 stake at 3.50 with NetBet
Back him here:
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