New Zealand and India conclude their T20 series on Sunday when they meet for the fifth and final time, with this concluding match coming from the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. India have long since sewn up the series and will be going for a whitewash here.
New Zealand must be wondering how on earth they are 4-0 down in the series, but that is the position they find themselves in. They have one last chance to get a chalk on the board and boost their morale in this format.
New Zealand
The Kiwis have lost a high scoring epic and been beaten in two super overs in this series so they could easily have been 3-1 up by now but instead they find themselves 4-0 down and needing to scrap out a win in the final game to avoid an embarrassing whitewash. Such a beating is not good at any stage of proceedings but it is especially not good when there is a World T20 on the horizon, as there is later this year.
The problem Mew Zealand have now is there are signs showing that they have forgotten how to win. They had the previous match in the palm of their hands and completely threw it away in the final over of their batting innings. They seemingly have no problem getting into the good positions, but are struggling to convert them at the minute and the longer that goes on, the more of a concern it is going to become.
India
It has been a perfect tour for India so far. They haven’t been at their best on it but they haven’t lost a match, they have got decent time into their main players and now have the chance to test out their squad depth, which is everything you can ask for in a World T20 year. The signs are positive too because the one quality this format requires more than any other is the ability to stay calm under pressure. They have done that throughout the series so far.
If there is a requirement for India for peace of mind in this match then it would come in their batsmen putting up another big score. They did it when they were forced to in the opening match, but haven’t really hit those heights since it has to be said. If they can do that then we’ve seen that regardless of which bowling combination they put out they will be more than competitive and win more than they lose.
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Team News
Although this is the home area of Kane Williamson, it appears he is going to rest his sore shoulder for this match. There is a fair chance New Zealand will send the same XI out onto the park and ask them to be more clinical.
India are expected to finally give Rishabh Pant a game here after surprisingly keeping him out of the series so far. There is talk that Virat Kohli will have a rest here in which case Rohit Sharma would return and skipper the side.
Betting
I think New Zealand are the value bet here. There has literally been nothing between these two sides in the last two matches and there is no doubt the Kiwis should have won the previous game. They will lose from that position one in 50 times if that so they should probably be a bit shorter than they actually are here in truth, especially if India decide to rest their senior players for the ODIs which is what all the talk is they will do.
New Zealand might have wanted to make a few changes for this match but with ODIs to come and the World T20 at the end of the year, I think winning this match is more important than resting players for a couple of days, so I would fancy New Zealand will be the stronger of the two in personnel and given how close they’ve been in the last two outings I’ll back them to finally get over the line here.
Tips
Back New Zealand to beat India for a 4/10 stake at 2.40 with Betfred
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