India and New Zealand kick off their short white ball series with the first of 3 T20 games on Friday. Both the teams start afresh after the disappointment faced with huge defeats in the Semi Finals of the 2022 T20 World Cup.
New Zealand lost to Pakistan by 7 wickets, while India was thrashed by eventual winners England by 10 wickets. Team India, come into the series with the big names missing and Hardik Pandya leading the charge. This is the best chance for Pandya to prove his captaincy credentials and a chance for many others to step up to the plate.
Venue – SKY Stadium, Wellington
Time – 12 PM IST
Likely Pitch Conditions –
The grounds in New Zealand aren’t exactly big in size and one can expect a lot of big hits to fly into the crowd. There is rain predicted for game day so either it can be a delayed start or there could be a stop start. Speaking about the pitch at Wellington, chasing teams have enjoyed a slight advantage but the toss shouldn’t be a factor. The average score at this ground is around 160 and teams batting first can expect a good surface which stays true for the game.
Likely India XI –
Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Surya Kumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya , Rishabh Pant, Deepak Hooda, Harshal Patel, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh and Yuzvendra Chahal
Likely New Zealand XI –
Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Michael Bracewell, Tim Southee, Adam Milne and Lockie Ferguson
Head to Head record
Matches Played -20
Wins for India – 11
Wins for New Zealand – 9
Matches played between India and NZ at Wellington –
Matches played – 3
Wins for India – 1
Wins for NZ – 2
Wellington T20I record –
Matches played – 15
Matches won by home team – 9
Matches won by visiting team – 6
Matches won after batting 1st – 7
Matches won after batting 2nd – 8
Matches won after winning the toss – 5
Matches won after losing the toss – 10
Highest individual score at this ground – 84 by Tim Siefert vs India -2019
Best bowling figures at this ground – 6/30 by Ashton Agar vs NZ -2021
Highest team total – 219 by NZ vs India -2019
Lowest team total – 101 by Pakistan vs NZ
Approaching milestones
·Kane Williamson needs 97 runs to score 2500 T20I runs
·Neesham needs 66 runs to reach 3000 overall T20 runs
·Santner needs 12 runs to reach 500 runs in T20 I cricket
·Santner needs 4 wickets to reach 150 wickets in overall T20 Cricket
·Rishabh Pant needs 30 runs to score 1000 runs In T20 I cricket
·Pant also needs 4 fours and 4 sixes to reach 400 career fours 200 career T20 Sixes
·Chahal needs 7 wickets to reach 300 career T20 wickets
·Deepak Hooda needs 25 runs to score 3000 career T20 runs
·Kuldeep Yadav needs 1 wicket to complete 150 career T20 wickets
·Umran Malik needs 5 wickets to complete 50 career T20 wickets