Improvements NZ must make to win India series
New Zealand are chasing a historic first bilateral ODI series win over India in India at the fifth attempt. The decider is at Kanpur on Sunday night.
They are all square going into game three. Here are five keys if New Zealand are to win the decider:
well with the bat
Okay, it may be stating the bleedin’ obvious but New Zealand’s batting class resides in their top three, in Martin Guptill and captain Kane Williamson. Yes, Ross Taylor and Tom Latham have been in strong form in the middle order and provide plenty of ballast, but in both ODIs so far they have been tasked with pulling New Zealand into the contest. They did it magnificently to nail the six-wicket win in Mumbai; but Pune in game two was a stretch. Guptill and Williamson, 50 runs combined in four digs, are due.
rotating the strike
It’s one of batting’s commandments but New Zealand weren’t able to do that as they would have liked in Pune. It’s especially important when you have a left-right combination at the crease. New Zealand got bogged down against the spinners, of whom nude (ie doesn’t turn the ball) offspinner Kedar Jadhav was the most frustrating. Bowling round arm, he flummoxed New Zealand’s batsmen, who were unable to figure out if the ball was going to turn or go straight through. Rule of thumb: he underspins the ball, therefore it tends to carry straight on. Yuzvendra Chahal is a classy legspinner and while Axar Patel is the least effective, he’s still no mug. Decent Indian spinners can be found on most street corners but if New Zealand are to succeed on Sunday, they need to work out a way to prosper against the twirly men.
must work in a pack
Trent Boult was outstanding in game one, less so yesterday. Tim Southee has taken wickets but been expensive. Adam Milne had a cracking night in Pune, pacy and persistent. Now let’s see them all on song at the same time. Watch how India’s new ball pair Jasprit Bumrah — he of the short hippity-hop runup — and swing man Bhuvneshwar Kumar bounce off each other. India’s bowling was terrific in Pune; New Zealand need to match that.
the form guide
What’s the best course of action upon winning the toss in Kanpur? Williamson was loath to concede he may have got his decision wrong in Pune, but his opposite, Virat Kohli was adamant even before the opening delivery, that bowling first was the way to go in Pune, where the pitches tend to quicken up in the cooler evening. Cool is a relative term; let’s say not as sweltering as Mumbai. A history check is needed but also consider this: what would India less prefer to do, and most likely that’s bat first. Kohli and MS Dhoni have a solid history of overseeing chases.
players must stand tall
Yes it’s a team game and in the successful ones the sum of the parts tends to be the rule. But certain players are game-changers. There is a significant prize at a stake. So New Zealand need top class from the likes of Boult, Williamson, Guptill, Taylor, seasoned campaigners on whom the team have come to rely.