The second T20 between India and New Zealand takes place on Saturday when the two sides meet in Rajkot. India took the first game of the series on Wednesday and can land the spoils with a match to spare should they win this second game.
New Zealand almost won the ODI series and head into this second match knowing full well that they must win here if they are going to force a decider next week.
India
The Indians won the match with the bat in the first game. They piled up a total above 200 runs and although they changed their bowling attack from the ODI series they were never going to concede that many. The test for them will be whether they can repeat those fireworks with the bat. If they can they will be hard to beat.
India’s total in that first game was built on the foundation of their opening partnership. If those two can get them off to a flyer again then they will be able to alter their batting line up accordingly and maximise their scores. If they bowl well then it is heard to see how New Zealand can get themselves into the match.
New Zealand
To be fair to the Kiwis they were more than competitive in the ODI series earlier in the tour but they were caught by surprise by Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma. I would imagine what would have disappointed them was their powerplay with the bat. They need to get off to a better start if they can because India are solid at the death.
We saw in that first match that New Zealand bat a long way down and that is never a bad thing. They have a number of options with the ball although each of them will need to do much better, if not in taking wickets, then certainly in containing the runs. They need to get their big players performing in the big moments and also field a whole lot better.
Team News
India will definitely be making one change for this match because Ashish Nehra has now retired from the format. Mohammad Siraj could come in for him if they go like for like.
Ross Taylor is needed in this New Zealand middle order. He could come in for Tom Bruce or Colin de Grandhomme, neither of whom did a whole lot in the first match.
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Betting
We’ve seen the dew have a big impact on the last couple of matches on this tour so until we know the outcome of the toss I don’t really want to get too involved in the match outcome from a betting point of view.
The bet I like in this match though is over 11.5 sixes. This is a small ground and Gujarat Lions matches in the Indian Premier League were always full of sixes and I see no reason why this match won’t be either. There were 14 sixes on a bigger ground than this in the first match so I’m expecting a dozen of them here.
Tips
WON – Back Over 11.5 sixes for a 4/10 stake at 1.83 with William Hill
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