Guwahati, Jan 25 India won the toss and elected to bowl first in the third T20I of the five-match series here at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium on Sunday. The Men in Blue lead the series 2-0, having clinched comfortable victories in the previous two games played in Nagpur and Raipur.
The second T20I highlighted New Zealand’s frustration in the series: despite scoring 190 while chasing, or over 200 batting first, these totals proved insufficient against India’s deep batting lineup. Although New Zealand showed dominance at times in Raipur and appeared poised for a big total, they were ultimately overwhelmed as India caught up comfortably and went on to win convincingly.
New Zealand have shown the right intent and skill set for conditions in India but have struggled to sustain their execution. In contrast, India appear to be peaking at the perfect time, with their batting depth firing across the order and momentum building ahead of their home World Cup defence.
The previous T20I was a revelation heading into the home World Cup, where Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav found his mojo back, Hardik Sharma showcased his usual prowess, and Rinku Singh played the finisher’s role that he has always wanted to as India chased a 200+ total in less than 16 overs.
Winning the toss, skipper Suryakumar opted to chase and said that the wicket looked good and acknowledged that there was dew as well. When asked about his message to the team, he said, “Take calls, be humble.”
Meanwhile, visiting skipper Mitchell Santner, speaking of the loss in the previous T20I and their plan ahead, said, “We batted well, with the ball, we came against a strong team. You take what you can and move along. Different games in different cities, gotta go again.”
Playing XIs:
India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravi Bishnoi, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand: Tim Seifert, Devon Conway (wk), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (c), Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy
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