Wary India take on spirited Kiwis today

Wary India take on spirited Kiwis today
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Highlights

From a New Zealand point of view, a victory was all that they needed after a string of deflating defeats. Ajinkya Rahane, who has got the opportunity to cement his place in the ODI side in the absence of injured Shikhar Dhawan, squandered starts in both the games while opening alongside Rohit Sharma, who would also

Mohali: Stung by an improved New Zealand the other night, a wary India would like to quickly get their house in order when they square off with Kane Williamson's boys in the third ODI, in Mohali on Sunday.While the six-run defeat in Delhi has given India plenty to ponder about, it has also renewed interest in the contest which had been dominated by the home team prior to Thursday, stretching from the one-sided Test series to the first ODI in Dharamsala.

From a New Zealand point of view, a victory was all that they needed after a string of deflating defeats. Ajinkya Rahane, who has got the opportunity to cement his place in the ODI side in the absence of injured Shikhar Dhawan, squandered starts in both the games while opening alongside Rohit Sharma, who would also be keen to be back among the runs after a couple of failures.The dew at this time of the year will be a factor again. With the home team having won all the tosses so far, the bowlers have done a decent job bowing first.Umesh Yadav and Hardik Pandya have been effective with the new ball with Jasprit Bumrah providing a strong back-up. Spinners Amit Mishra and Axar Patel have performed their role well.

While India would look to reassert over the opposition again, a reinvigorated New Zealand would be keen to cash in on the slight momentum they have gained with their first win of the tour.The Kiwis made three changes in the last game but only pacer Trent Boult delivered on his return, ending with tidy figures of 2/25 in 10 overs. Anton Devcich playing in place of Jimmy Neesham did nothing to write home about while speedster Matt Henry, picked ahead of spinner Ish Sodhi, finished with figures of 1/51 in his full quota of overs.

It will be interesting to see whether New Zealand stick to picking only one specialist spinner in Mitchell Santner or they bring back Sodhi.
The bulk of the burden in the batting department will be borne by skipper Kane Williamson.They would also be hoping opener Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor return to form after a prolonged lean patch.

Teams: India: MS Dhoni (captain), Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Amit Mishra, Axar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Dhawal Kulkarni, Jayant Yadav, Mandeep Singh; New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Tom Latham, Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Luke Ronchi, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Jimmy Neesham, Corey Anderson, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Anton Devcich, Doug Bracewell, Matt Henry, BJ Watling.

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