In the third match of the five-match T20I series, Indian captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to field first at the Henry Stadium in Wellington. India has fielded the same side that played in the previous match, while New Zealand has made three changes (Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, and Nathan Smith are out; Matthew Fisher, Kyle Jamieson, and Adam Milne have come in). See the playing XIs for both teams below.
India’s Playing XI
Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi (Wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Tilak Varma, Nitish Reddy, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav
New Zealand’s Playing XI
Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (Wicketkeeper), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevan Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (Captain), Adam Milne, Jacob Duffy, Matthew Fisher, Kyle Jamieson
Holding a 2-0 lead, India enters today’s match (October 27) in Wellington aiming to seal the five-match T20I series. India currently holds the upper hand, thanks to stellar performances from Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Meanwhile, for the New Zealand side—led by Mitchell Santner—a win is essential; they will need an immediate improvement in their bowling to stay alive in the series.
Henry Stadium, Wellington: Pitch Report
The pitch at the Henry Stadium in Wellington is a ‘drop-in’ surface, which generally favors the batters. The ball comes onto the bat well, making high scores a strong possibility. With the new ball, fast bowlers and swing bowlers can extract movement and bounce during the opening overs.
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The atmospheric conditions also assist fast bowlers in generating swing. As the match progresses, the pitch may slow down slightly, but generally, pacers tend to find more success here than spinners. According to the statistics, the team batting first holds an advantage at this venue, and a score in the vicinity of 190 is considered a safe total.
