After humbling India in the fourth ODI, New Zealand would look to repeat the same against the Men in Blue on Sunday as well for the fifth and final ODI of the match. A win for the Kiwis would enhance the scoreline of the series to 3-2 in India’s favor. However, a loss for the Black Caps would mean India would ride on to a series win with a 4-1 margin. A series result that will be very demotivating, especially when the World Cup is just months away.
Thus, to win the final match, the Black Caps would be going for an unchanged team, except Martin Guptill who is out injured. Colin Munro is expected to play in place of him and this would be the final chance for the southpaw to cement a place in the playing eleven.
India, on the other hand, will welcome back MS Dhoni who didn’t play the last match due to his injury. Dinesh Karthik might have to sit out as young Shubman Gill is expected to be given another chance.
NEW ZEALAND
Strengths
Kiwi bowlers, especially Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme, wreaked havoc amongst the Indian batsmen in the last ODI (Image Credits: INDIA TODAY)
Bowlers back in form – Except for the last match, the Kiwi bowling attack have suffered in the entire series, not being able to pick up wickets at all and were also unable to stop the flow of runs. However, in the last match, the bowling attack made up for all their wrong-doings in the entire series by bundling out the Indians for a paltry score of 92 runs, which paved way for a record win for the Kiwis against India.
Weakness
Top-order losing wickets in quick succession – Not even once in the entire series have the Kiwi top-order batsmen laid a foundation and have given a solid start to the team. Even in the last match, they had lost two of their top-batsmen in quick succession inside ten overs and had India would have posted a par total in the game, we might have seen the Kiwi batting order tumbling as they had in the first three ODI’s.
INDIA
Strengths
India possesses a daunting bowling attack (Image Credits: Hindustan Times)
Intimidating bowling attack – The Indian bowlers have constantly picked up wickets in the series, having picked up all 30 in the first three ODI’s and also shook the New Zealand top-order by picking up 2 crucial wickets inside six overs in the fourth ODI as well. They have constantly been performing for the team and are one of the integral reasons as to why the team has done so well in the away tours recently.
Weakness
A selection headache – The Indians would have to decide upon their middle-order batting order soon as the World Cup is just months away. All of Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav and Dinesh Karthik were performing throughout the Australian and New Zealand series, however, their dismal showing in the last ODI has raised quite a few eyebrows. Also, Shubman Gill, Ajinkya Rahane, Rishabh Pant, and Shreyas Iyer have been knocking the doors of the Indian batting order for quite some time now and would be high time now that Rayudu, Jadhav, and Karthik justify their inclusion into the squad by scoring a mammoth century.
CricWizz Prediction:
Although New Zealand were complete unplayable in the last match, still we feel that India would come back stronger in the final ODI and go on to win this series 4-1. We feel this because there are more number of match-winners in the Indian camp than in the Kiwi side, and the way the Indian were crushed in the last match, the Indian players would take this on their ego and would like to hand over the same to the Black Caps.
Also Read, Match Report|NZ vs Ind|4th ODI
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