India and New Zealand will be competing against each other in the second match of the ongoing T20 series at Auckland on Sunday. India are 1-0 up in the series after chasing down 204 in the first match.
New Zealand will be looking to bounce back in the series. Despite putting on a strong 203 on the board in first match, the home side weren’t able to defend that.
Full Scorecard : New Zealand vs India, 2nd T20 at Auckland
Head to Head Stats :Total Matches : 12New Zealand Won : 8India Won : 3
Abandoned : 1
Result Prediction :
India would be on a high after their splendid batting performance in the previous encounter. I would give it a 60-40 in favor of India. Both on paper and on form, India looks favorite for me.
Pitch Condition :
Most probably, the second ODI will be played on the same pitch that was used in first match. Similar to the previous match, batsmen would probably fancy their chances with short boundaries and flat pitch. But remember, this is the used pitch and hence it might get slower as the match progresses. Someone like Ravindra Jadeja or Mitchell Santner might prove to be a handy option especially in the second innings. As a whole, it should be a high scoring battle between the two sides.
Fantasy Tips :
Whenever India and New Zealand are in the ground, the obvious names for fantasy picks will be the skippers, Virat and Williamson and yes they are the safe bet this time too. But in case any fantasy managers want to go for a differential pick, Indian opening batsman KL Rahul has to be the one. Rahul has been in good touch and been consistently performing irrespective of the format. You can even go for captaining Rahul.
Rohit was unfortunate to miss out on the first match and will be eager to score a big one this time around. You cannot leave Jasprit Bumrah, the death over specialist by any means as always. From New Zealand, Colin de Grandhomme can be a good option because of his bowling style that might suit the pitch in this match.
Players to Watch Out For :
India : KL Rahul, Jasprit Bumrah, Rohit Sharma
New Zealand : Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill, Mitchell Santner
New Zealand’s Probable Playing XI :
Martin Guptill
Colin Munro
Kane WilliamsonTim Seifert
Ross Taylor
Colin de Grandhomme
Mitchell Santner
Tim Southee Ish SodhiHamish Bennett/Scott Kuggeleijn
Blair Tickner
India’s Probable Playing XI :
Rohit Sharma
KL Rahul
Virat KohliShreyas IyerManish PandeyShivam Dube
Ravindra Jadeja
Yuzvendra ChahalMohammad Shami
Jasprit Bumrah
Navdeep Saini/Shardul Thakur