India vs New Zeland, Match Preview (1st ODI): Predicted 11, match prediction, live streaming, weather forecast, and pitch report

India were always going to pose a tough challenge to New Zealand in their own backyard, but a 5-0 whitewash at the hands of the Men in Blue in the T20I series was highly unexpected for the Blackcaps.

While India played some outstanding cricket to achieve the remarkable feat, New Zealand’s inability to close the games and get the job done were also responsible for the humiliation they suffered on their home turf.

New Zealand would reflect on the T20I series and think that there were three games which they could have won if they had held their nerves. However, there is not much time for introspection as the ODI series is right around the corner.

5️⃣ - 0️⃣ 👌🏻😎🔝🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳 #TeamIndia #NZvIND pic.twitter.com/pn0qTiwDHR

— BCCI (@BCCI) February 2, 2020

Both teams now head back to Hamilton where the first of the three ODIs will be played and while India would want to carry the momentum forward, New Zealand would be desperate to end the winning streak of the visitors.

The dynamics of 50-over cricket is different from that of T20 cricket, but New Zealand are incredibly down on confidence at the moment and injuries to key players have not helped them in any way.

India, on the other hand, will have more or less the same team turning up for the ODIs that turned up for the T20Is and the players, having played a handful of games on the tour already, would have had a fair idea of the conditions in New Zealand.

The visitors would want to go into the first couple of games with a full strength playing XI and try and win the series before trying out the fringe players.

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Match Details

Date: February 5, 2020 (Wednesday)

Time: 07:30 AM (IST)

Venue: Seddon Park, Hamilton

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Also see – ICC Women’s T20 world cup points table

Weather Forecast

Hamilton will be partly cloudy on Wednesday, but the humidity won’t be too high which means the match isn’t likely to be hindered by rain. However, it might be cold in the evening as the minimum temperature during the day can go down to 10 degree Celsius. There will be a strong breeze across the ground as well, which might add a bit of nip in the air.

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Pitch Report

The pitch in the third T20I, which was played in Hamilton, helped the spinners a fair bit. The ball gripped and turned and the spinners from both sides were able to make an impact on the game. The surface might be sticky and two-paced again. Given the fact that there isn’t going to be too much of dew, batting first might be a good idea.

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Probable XI

India: India might hand Prithvi Shaw an ODI debut in Shikhar Dhawan’s absence. While KL Rahul is there in the squad and can open the innings, India would probably like to persist with him at no. 5 for a little while to see what he can offer in the middle order.

Navdeep Saini was preferred ahead of Shardul Thakur in the last two games of the ODI series against Australia and he impressed one and all with his pace and ability to bowl yorkers. He could form the pace bowling trio for India along with Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami.

Predicted XI: Prithvi Shaw, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (C), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (WK), Manish Pandey, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Navdeep Saini, Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand: Colin Munro is not there in the ODI squad which means Tom Blundell will open the batting with Martin Guptill, while Tom Latham will keep wickets and bat at no. 5.

New Zealand’s first choice fast bowlers Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry are all injured and given the fact that Tim Southee has not been in the greatest of forms recently, the Kiwis might go with the inexperienced duo of Hamish Bennett and Scott Kuggeleijn.

Predicted XI: Martin Guptill, Tom Blundell, Kane Williamson (C), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (WK), James Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Scott Kuggeleijn, Ish Sodhi, Hamish Bennett

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Prediction

The way India played in the ODI series against Australia and the momentum that they have achieved very early on in the New Zealand tour, it won’t be an overstatement to say that they are going into this ODI series as the favorites. The prediction is for India to win the match and take a 1-0 lead in the series.

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Broadcast details

TV: Star Sports 1, Star Sports 1 HD, Star Sports 3

Online: Hotstar