India vs New Zealand, 3rd T20I: India, New Zealand ready for one final push | Cricket News – Times of India

Spotlight on top-order batters; dew likely to be a factor
AHMEDABAD: The last time India lost a T20I series at home was in March 2019, when all-rounder Glenn Maxwell inspired Australia to a 2-0 series triumph. Since then, India have competed in 20 bilateral T20I series, both away and home, winning 17 of them, drawing two and losing one to Sri Lanka in 2021, when a majority of India’s playing squad members were infected with Covid.
India have not lost the last 12 bilateral T20I series (winning 10 and drawing 2) that they’ve played at home, a record they would like to keep intact when they take the field on Wednesday at the humongous Narendra Modi Stadium in Motera against a New Zealand side whose playing culture has been epitomised by their never-say-die approach. The Black Caps, who lost the ODI series, will be hoping to end their subcontinental sojourn on a winning note.

The build-up to the decider has been dominated by discussions centering on the ‘nature’ of the pitch. New Zealand spinners out bowled their Indian counterparts and throttled India in the opening T20I in Ranchi, following which Indian captain Hardik Pandya expressed ‘shock’ and ‘surprise’ at the nature of the pitch. If that was not enough, the pitch at the Ekana in Lucknow produced a total of just 200 runs. India found the target of 100 difficult, winning in 19. 5 overs and Pandya again termed the wicket as a “shocker of a pitch”.
The strip at Motera is expected to be batting-friendly. The average total batting first at the newly-constructed stadium, which c an accommodate an estimated 132,000 people, is around 170-175. The team batting first has gone on to win the match twice while the chasing side has been successful thrice. Dew, though, is likely to play a cr ucial factor, and the team winning the toss will, in all likelihood, want to chase down a target than set one.

Indian batters have not fired in unison in this series. The likes of Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan and Rahul Tripathi failed in the first T201 while, in the second outing, all three got starts but failed to capitalize on it. They will be hoping to make their mark with a significant contribution here.
While Washington Sundar saved India from a huge defeat in Ranchi, all eyes will again be on ‘Mr 360’ Suryakumar Yadav, who had scored an unbeaten 112 in the decider against Sri Lanka only last month. He has been consistent in the two matches but his usual flair has been missing. Pandya, too, would be eager to put on a show and end the series on a high, both with the bat and the ball.

In the bowling department, off spinner Sundar, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav and leg spinner Yuzvendra Chahal have been economical and taken wickets as well. The death bowling of left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh and tearaway pacer Umran Malik will again be put to test against the likes of big-hitting Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell and Michael Bracewell.
The Black Caps will hope that openers Finn Allen and Devon Conway to provide the fireworks at the top.

Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner and leg spinner Ish Sodhi have tied down the Indian middle-order batters in the first two games, and New Zealand will once again look at the duo along with Bracewell to stifle the scoring rate in the middle overs. Pacer Lockie Ferguson will spearhead the pace bowling department along with newcomer 10-T20I old Jacob Duffy.