New Zealand complete their white ball summer on Tuesday when they take on India in the third and final ODI of what has been a decent series so far. They do so knowing they already have the series in the bag, but would love to end with a clean sweep.
India picked up a whitewash in the T20 series which preceded these matches and they will be out to avoid being on the wrong end of one in the ODIs. There is a Test series to follow so both teams will be looking for a confidence boost ahead of that.
New Zealand
You have to give a lot of credit to New Zealand for the way they have responded in this ODI series to the 5-0 defeat they suffered in the T20 matches. Admittedly they were not bad in those T20 games and certainly didn’t deserve to lose them 5-0, but when you have lost a bunch of matches in agonising fashion it can take some recovering from. To have won the first two ODIs in the manner that they did will be very encouraging.
The really good thing for New Zealand in terms of their confidence is that there is a whole lot more to come from them too. They have missed some key personnel in this series and of the ones they have had available a number have not contributed in the way they would have been expected to. That won’t continue forever so the Kiwis should be feeling pretty good about themselves as they chase this whitewash.
India
It is pretty well known that India have the 50 over format as the one they are focusing on the least at present, with good reason with another three years until the next World Cup in it, but they are a proud cricketing nation so they won’t want to concede a whitewash to anyone, least of all the team that took care of them at the last major tournament, and with a Test series on the horizon, I’m sure they’ll see this as a chance to regain any psychological advantage.
It remains to be seen whether India will give their squad players a chance here, but you would think with the Test series on the horizon, one which carries World Test Championship points, it would be a surprise if some senior bowlers are not rested, especially those who have had a large workload in recent times. India will need to bowl well if they are going to win this match though so maybe they will rest in a warm up game.
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Team News
Kane Williamson has missed the first two matches of the series but he is due to return on his home ground. Ish Sodhi is also expected to return to the side after he played a four day game which forced him to miss the previous one.
India captain Virat Kohli suggested that their squad will get tested in this match. That surely means Rishabh Pant will finally get an outing on this tour. Shivam Dube might get another chance to prove his worth as well.
Betting
New Zealand have won the first two matches in this series and in terms of personnel they look to be stronger for this match so in theory they should be good things in this match. Having Kane Williamson back is huge because not only is he a truly world class batsman to bolster their middle order batting, but he’s a calm and composed captain which will come in handy as well. They have also won setting and defending which helps.
On the flip side of that, it would appear India are not going to be as strong, certainly with the ball at least, which would further make me think that New Zealand are good things in this match. A full strength India side won a couple of ODIs here last year but I’m not expecting them to be that strong here. New Zealand have looked in good touch in this series so far and they look fair value to round it off with a third straight win.
Tips
WON – Back New Zealand to beat India for a 4/10 stake at 2.38 with William Hill
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