🏏New Zealand vs India : 3rd ODI: At Indore on 18/01/26 D/N🏏 - Page 2

New Zealand's remarkable turnaround

Many had written off New Zealand the moment the squad was announced with Kane Williamson missing and Mitchell Santner rested for the ODIs.They have had debutants in each of the first two games, yet it was their batting that has excelled. Daryl Mitchell has kept haunting India, and he finally got that elusive win for his efforts last time in Rajkot. Adding to this, Michael Bracewell's smart captaincy and some tight bowling has ensured India has suffered a couple of batting collapses in the first two games.

New Zealand on cusp of history

New Zealand have visited India on 16 occasions for ODIs, including four World Cups and a Champions Trophy. During this time, they have never been able to get their hands on the trophy and left for home empty-handed. They have forced series deciders three times on Indian soil and were unsuccessful. However, they have a real chance of winning their first ODI trophy in India, heading into the third ODI.

Thanks for the tag!

I hope India wins this one!

If India beating New Zealand in the opening ODI came as no surprise, their defeat in Rajkot certainly did. A depleted New Zealand side outplaying a star-studded Indian team was a timely reminder that cricket owes no one guarantees and everything depends on the way you perform on the day. The Black Caps showed their fighting spirit in the first game, and the result in Rajkot would have boosted their confidence and belief. Bowling remains New Zealand's weaker suit on paper, but in both matches it has punched well above its weight. India, meanwhile, once again struggled against spin. In Rajkot, they managed just 89 runs from 23 overs of spin, lost two wickets, and never truly seized control. In contrast, the Kiwis collected 126 runs off 18 overs against quality Indian spinners, losing only one wicket. The difference lies in their use of the sweep and reverse sweep, options the Indian batters rarely explored. This is clearly an area India will look to address.

The series decider moves to Indore, a venue known for big scores, with an average first innings total of 331. Pace or spin matters less here than intent.

For the record, spinners at the Holkar Stadium average 32.5 compared to 48.4 for pacers. It is hard to see India making changes, especially in their batting ranks, but if they do look at their bowling options, Arshdeep Singh could be considered. New Zealand have already impressed on this tour, and a win here would give them their maiden ODI series victory on Indian soil. It will not be easy, though, with the Men in Blue boasting a perfect record at this venue, 7 wins from 7 ODIs. Still, if the Black Caps keep their fighting instincts alive and get their processes right, they have the ability to push India all the way. It promises to be an entertaining contest, with plenty of fireworks on offer.

India won the toss And choose to bowl

12:30 Local Time, 07:00 GMT, 12:30 IST: It's 1-1 apiece as we get to the final game of the 50-over game of the Indian season. While the hosts were convincing in the first match, the visitors came back strongly in Rajkot - Daryl Mitchell's splendid hundred easing them to victory. Batting second has been a distinct advantage and it's a no-brainer that the captain winning the toss would be looking forward to field first today. Indore is the venue for today's game and history says it should be another batting beauty. Add the shorter boundaries, the bowlers are in for another testing day at the office. The hosts have had a mixed season - Test series win against West Indies and then white-ball series wins against South Africa. But it is the Test series loss to South Africa which still rankles and they wouldn't want another 'L' against their name. Toss and team sheets coming up shortly..

Teams:

New Zealand (Playing XI): Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Hay(w), Michael Bracewell(c), Zakary Foulkes, Kyle Jamieson, Kristian Clarke, Jayden Lennox

India (Playing XI): Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj

India have won the toss and have opted to field

Thank God gill won toss

Shubman Gill: That's what we spoke about. Great challenge for us, NZ put us under pressure but this is what the players expect. Not a lot of dew expected but we want to bowl first and see a score that we can chase. [What went wrong in Rajkot?] We need to vary our lengths a bit in the middle overs, and that is one area we want to improve. We have one change, Arshdeep comes back for Prasidh.

Michael Bracewell: We have to quickly switch back to batting first. It is an exciting time. Good chance for us to win our first ODI series here in India. With the series on the line, hope the youngster do well again. No changes.

Michael Bracewell - We would have bowled first, but I think it looks like a good surface and I guess we're going to quickly shift to the mindset of batting first. That's right, it's a big exciting opportunity for us to win a series over here in one-day format. I think they've shown good temperament. They're getting used to international cricket and have made a good fist of it so far (on the new faces). With the series on the line you want to be able to do that stuff under pressure. So I'm looking forward to seeing how they go again tonight. No changes from the last game.

Shubman Gill - We will bowl first. That's what we spoke (on the decision to bolw), batting first, New Zealand put us under pressure. One of the decisions we're bowling first is that the surface looks good, don't expect a lot of dew, runs on the board would let us chase better. Need to vary our lengths in the middle-overs, that's what we want to do. One change, Arshdeep comes in place of Prasidh