ICC World Cup 2019: Match 18, India vs New Zealand, Preview – Dhawan-less Men in Blue face a daunting Kiwi challenge

It has been a dramatic week for Indian cricket. It began with an outstanding win against Australia at the Oval, followed by Yuvraj Singh’s retirement and then the big one, Shikhar Dhawan fracturing his thumb. The fans had to soak in a lot in the last few days but a win against a very strong New Zealand side could stabilize everything.

Kane Williamson and his troops faced three other Asian forces before this game and they cleared all the hurdles with ease. Now they face the big one against India, but they will be confident having beaten them in the warm-up game. Their fast bowlers have been thoroughly impressive thus far, especially the medium pacers like Jimmy Neesham and Colin de Grandhomme.

All the excitement leading up to the tournament got drained in some heavy rains in the last few days and once again, there’s serious rain threat looming around this marquee encounter. All the fans can do is to pray and hope for cricket to happen on the day.

India

With Shikhar Dhawan absent, KL Rahul and Rohit opening is the obvious choice. The main headache for the Indian skipper is who will take up the number four spot between Vijay Shankar and Dinesh Karthik. If he plays Vijay Shankar, one among Kedar Jadhav or MS Dhoni could bat at number 4 with Shankar batting at number 6 or 7 as a finisher.

It looks like Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal will be forming a formidable spin duo throughout the tournament. Bhuvneshwar Kumar shut the doubts over his form with a couple of brilliant displays whilst Jasprit Bumrah is just doing what he does best.

Predicted XI

KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Vijay Shankar/Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah.

New Zealand

Colin Munro’s form has been concerning for the Kiwis and they could rope in Henry Nicholls as the opener. Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor have scored plenty of runs thus far and are very keen on carrying the burden of this batting line-up. The likes of Tom Latham and Jimmy Neesham are yet to be tested properly.

Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry and Trent Boult have been terrific thus far, but the unexpected facet of their bowling performance was the medium pacers like Jimmy Neesham coming up trumps. Mitchell Santner is the only spinner in the lineup, giving them six proper bowling options.

Predicted XI

Colin Munro/Henry Nicholls, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson (c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (wk), James Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult.

Focus will be on

KL Rahul (India)

A lot of experts were unhappy when KL Rahul was picked as the back-up opener instead of going for a fourth seamer. As it turns out, it is such a blessing in this difficult hour for the Indian side that someone who has the experience of opening against white ball is there with the team. He will be batting at his favoured position and would definitely fancy some big scores to his name.

Trent Boult (New Zealand)

Trent Boult always turns up big time against the Indians and bowled brilliantly in the warm-up fixture as well. His expertise and experience combine to form one of the most lethal bowlers in the world and the Indian top order should be very careful dealing with him. All of the Indian top six batsmen for the game will be right-handed batsmen and that could work in favour of the left-arm seamer.

Head to Head

Total Matches – 106 | India won – 55 | New Zealand won – 45 | No Result – 5 | Tied – 1

Stat Attack

16 – This is the first time India and New Zealand are locking horns in a World Cup encounter since the 2003 edition in Centurion.

Broadcast details

TV – Star Sports

Live Streaming – Hotstar

Match Timings – 15:00 IST; 10:30 local.