India have already taken a 2-0 lead in the ongoing five-match ODI series against New Zealand and will be aiming to get an unassailable 3-0 lead when they lock horns with New Zealand in the third clash in Hamilton on Tuesday. Having won the opening two matches, India have posed a massive threat to New Zealand across all departments. New Zealand, on the other hand, are in a very tense situation after suffering back-to-back defeats.
The first two matches have been affected by rain, with the outcome being decided through the DLS method. However, repeated interruptions have not dampened India’s spirit as they have adapted to the conditions very nicely, keeping themselves always in a fruitful situation. The problem is for New Zealand, who have struggled to find consistency with the bat, with their batting line-up failing to build big partnerships.
They have managed totals of 185 and 134 in the first two matches, which was not enough to stop India from clinching seamless wins. For the Black Caps, Tim Seifert and Daryl Mitchell have made valuable efforts, but the rest of the batting attack has been unable to fire in unison. Glenn Phillips, Henry Nicholls and Mitchell Santner have not lived up to the standards, but they will have to play their important roles in the third game to keep the side alive in the series.
Head-to-head
Matches - 125
NZ won - 52
IND won - 65
No result - 7
Tied 1
New Zealand likely XI: Tim Seifert, Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner
India playing likely XI: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh