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Match Details
Date: November 21, 2021
Time: 7:00 PM IST
Venue: Eden Gardens, Kolkata
Preview:
India and New Zealand will play the final match of the three-match T20I series at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Sunday. The first two matches have both been won by the home team and it is all up to the visitors now to see how they react in this kind of a situation and bounce back from the second game in which they were completely outplayed. Not to forget though that in both the matches, the Kiwis did have their moments but were not able to hold on to those for sustained periods and eventually lost the match.
Head-to-head
Pitch Report: An international game at this venue after nearly two years. In fact, there was no IPL match too that happened at this venue since then. However, traditionally the wicket has been good for batters. India opener Rohit Sharma takes a particular liking to this venue and given the kind of form he has been in lately, expect good innings from the Hitman before he takes a rest from the Test matches. The spinners also come in handy at this venue and it would be interesting to see which spinners get a chance to play this game, especially from the Indian dugout.
Team Analysis:
India: With India already 2-0 up in the three-match series, they can afford to rest a few of their players, especially those who will have a key role in the Test matches lined up. This will also allow some of the other players who have warmed the benches so far, prove their utility to the team, keeping in the mind the next T20 World Cup in 2022. The likes of Avesh Khan, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ishan Kishan are front runners to bag a place in the XI while KL Rahul and R Ashwin among others could be rested as they have a Test series to look forward to after this fixture.
New Zealand: Meanwhile, New Zealand too would fight hard to get a consolation win and a fact that new faces might be tried in the Indian XI could work a bit in their favour but irrespective of that, the Indian side looked pretty solid and no one could be taken for granted. More so because it was an Indian debutant Harshal Patel who was the player of the match in the second T20I. Martin Guptill along with Trent Boult and Tim Southee happen to the among the senior players and would want to raise their hand and deliver to take a win and end the series at 2-1 rather than face a 3-0 thumping from India.
Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (c), KL Rahul (vc), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ishan Kishan (wk), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohammad Siraj
New Zealand: Tim Southee (c), Daryl Mitchell, Martin Guptill, Tim Seifert, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Jimmy Neesham, Todd Astle, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
Match Prediction
Conclusion: India should be able to complete a clean sweep in this series. Even if they do not play some of their senior players, they seem to have the depth to come out of difficult situations and emerge as the winner. Things have not fallen in place for New Zealand and they are missing the experience of Kane Williamson in the middle. In the bowling too, bowling with the wet ball has been difficult for their spinners and if they win the toss, they would fancy batting second and try and put the Indian bowlers to bowl with the wet white ball for the first time in the series as on both the previous occasions it was Rohit Sharma who won the toss and opted to field first.
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