New Zealand vs India: 5th T20I, Preview - Crestfallen hosts seek inspiration to avoid series whitewash

After all, it is a sport. There are joy, suffering and some indescribable phenomenon that causes an impact so sudden that it hits you out of nowhere. You can’t brace yourself for it. For the million fans who witnessed New Zealand’s second consecutive meltdown in Wellington on Friday, that particular description may be apt. If it was one of those days when the hosts came an extra step closer to their first victory of the series, another curveball awaited them.

The fourth tied match across two formats in seven months and the second consecutive in T20Is and New Zealand go on to lose all of them. Once again, the Kiwis put themselves in a position to claim a comfortable victory but butchered their way to a shattering defeat. The bowlers produced their best bowling performance of the series so far to leave the batsmen to get 166. Kane Williamson’s absence was a massive blow in itself, but contrary to that, the home side found two batsmen confidently shepherding the chase.

However, much like last time when their lower order failed Williamson, this time they let down Colin Munro and Tim Seifert by collapsing in a heap. A second successive match came down to the super over and one could sense a similar script unfolding to leave New Zealand 4-0 down in the five-match series. But the Kiwis don’t have much time to lick their wounds. As sportsmen, they have to cop it on the chin and prepare themselves for the battles that lie ahead and notably to avoid a whitewash in Mount Maunganui.

Meanwhile, India have more things going their way than against theirs. It hasn’t mattered how much the odds are stacked against them. The Men in Blue have found a way to stay in the hunt and eventually snatch the win. But that is also due to the hosts not making the most of their mishaps. Around a subsiding batting line-up at the Westpac Stadium, Manish Pandey stepped up and batted with the tailenders intelligently to rescue India from 88/6.

It was the kind of knock manufactured after a brilliant reading of the situation. Despite hitting only three boundaries, Manish’s strike rate read 138.88. He brought his half-century off 36 balls, relatively slower than most batsmen produce in death overs. But that just about did the job for India. It was also impressive to see Shardul Thakur release a series of variations that ended up forcing four wickets in the final over to defend 7. With another victory and an unbeatable lead of 4-0, Virat Kohli may persist with the same side.

Playing Combinations:

New Zealand

At the last minute, New Zealand suffered a body blow with Kane Williamson ruled out of the fourth T20I due to an injury to his left shoulder. The regular skipper is expected to make himself available for the final match. Aside from Williamson replacing Tom Bruce, if fit, the hosts are likely not to make any other changes.

Probable XI: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Tim Seifert(wk), Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi, Hamish Bennett.

India:

The tourists carried a host of changes for Wellington, all of which returned with mediocre performances. Washington Sundar, who came in for Ravindra Jadeja, neither troubled the scorers nor picked up a wicket in two overs. Navdeep Saini, who got picked for Mohammed Shami, scored two crucial boundaries with the bat, returned wicketless too in four overs. But he kept his economy under 8 an over.

If anything more frustrating, it was Sanju Samson throwing away his elusive opportunity to get a big score at the top of the order. He boasts of a massive reputation, but he needs to make the best use of his limited opportunities. With the fixture in Mount Maunganui being an inconsequential one too, India may field the same eleven.

Probable XI: Sanju Samson, KL Rahul(wk), Virat Kohli(c), Shreyas Iyer, Shivam Dube, Manish Pandey, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah.

Focus will be on

Tim Seifert (New Zealand)

Tim Seifert received the man of the series award last time India played a T20I series in New Zealand. At the top of the order, the 25-year old amassed 139 runs in three matches back then. In the present series, Seifert has played as a floater batsman and has still managed to do well.

In the second match in Auckland, he came at number six and gave the Black Caps the much-needed push to take the score past 130. At the Westpac Stadium, in the absence of Williamson, the gloveman came at number three and hatched a stand of 74 along with Munro. He scored 57 off 39 before being done by pressure due to a flurry of wickets. The right-handed batsman should bat no later than number four as he looks to be the anchor to support Williamson.

Shivam Dube (India)

Shivam Dube received a lifeline through Hardik Pandya’s omission to make a genuine statement for the all-rounder’s spot for the T20 World Cup later this year. The Mumbai all-rounder has batted three times at number five and once at number three, putting up scores of 13, 8, 3, 12.

Dube has also scraped through to only a couple of wickets in four outings while remaining inconsistent with his economy rate. Such performances are not likely to get rewarded a berth for the mega event later this year. Can he make a significant contribution in the last match to stay in the reckoning?

Head to Head:

Played – 15 | New Zealand won – 8 | India won – 6 | No result – 1

Stat Attack:

1 – India will play their first T20I at the Bay Oval on Sunday.

61.40 – Colin Munro averages 61.40 at the Bay Oval, having scored 307 runs in five matches. His two out of three T20I hundreds came at this venue.

56 – Jasprit Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal are neck and neck when it comes to picking most T20I wickets for India. The former is currently the highest wicket-taker with 56 wickets while the latter is only one adrift.

Broadcast details:

TV – Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD

Live Streaming – Hotstar

Match Timings – 12:30 PM IST; 6:00 PM local