Team India will be looking to assert their dominance over New Zealand in the second One-Day International at the Feroz Shah Kotla, in Delhi, after an authoritative display against the visitors at Dharamsala in the first ODI.
In what was expected to be a high-scoring match, the Indian bowlers impressed as they never allowed the Kiwi batsmen to take off with debutant Hardik Pandya earning a deserved Man of the Match award for his three wickets. Virat Kohli was at his imperious best again, as he carried his team home with an unbeaten knock of 85.
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The Men in Blue were near perfect at the HPCA Stadium, and will be hoping to put on a similar display at the Feroz Shah Kotla and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. In the continued absence of Suresh Raina, Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav will get another opportunity to stake a claim for a regular berth in the line-up and they will be hoping to impress with strong performances in the middle order.
Fielding will be one area where the Indians will be looking to improve after two dropped catches in the first game that should have been easily taken. Captain MS Dhoni will definitely not be pleased with those efforts on the field and will have let his players know in no uncertain terms to avoid repeating such mistakes.
The Kiwis, meanwhile, will be looking to bounce back after a dismal batting performance on what was a very good batting wicket in Dharamsala. They will be looking to show a little more application in Delhi after a collective failure with the bat. Tom Latham was the only exception as he carried his bat through the innings scoring a gritty 79* and was supported by Tim Southee.
Ross Taylor’s woes with the bat on this tour seem to be never-ending. He will have to step up and rise to the occasion if the Kiwis are to challenge the mighty Indians in this series. Captain Kane Williamson has a poor record in ODIs in India, with a meagre 117 runs in 6 innings at an average of 23.40 compared to his overall average of 46.44, and he will be eager to set these records straight with a big knock for his team.
Corey Anderson failed to impress on his return to the ODI team after an injury lay-off. Unable to bowl throughout the series, he will have to contribute with the bat in a bigger way if he is to continue playing as a specialist batsman in the side.
Match details
Venue: Feroz Shah Kotla, Delhi
Date: 20 October 2016 (Thursday)
Time: 08:00 GMT / 13:30 IST
Broadcast: Star Sports 1, Star Sports HD 1 in English / Star Sports 3, Star Sports HD 3 in Hindi
Online Stream: www.starsports.com
Recent form
India: W-W-W-W-W
New Zealand: L-W-L-W-W
Team talk
India
Suresh Raina has been declared unfit for the second match as well, as he continues his recovery from viral fever.
The southpaw was seen practicing with the squad ahead of the second ODI after missing the first match at Dharamsala, but a BCCI media-release said, "The BCCI Medical team has confirmed that Suresh Raina, who is recovering from a bout of viral fever and had missed the Dharamsala ODI, is ruled out of the second ODI of the Paytm ODI Trophy against New Zealand. The team management has allowed Suresh Raina more time to recover. There will be no replacement in the team.”
So Kedar Jadhav and Manish Pandey will continue to feature in the middle-order and Captain MS Dhoni will not look to make any other changes to the line-up with his bowlers standing up to the occasion on a batting-friendly pitch and everyone knows how much the wicket-keeper batsman likes to stick with a winning combination.
New Zealand
It was a surprise move to play Tom Latham at the top ahead of Anton Devcich who was widely expected to play owing to his bowling abilities. But the selection paid off, with Latham the sole batsman standing out for the Kiwis.
If the Kiwi think-tank does decide to go in with Devcich, as an extra bowler might turn out handy on a spin-friendly Feroz Shah Kotla pitch, it will be Martin Guptill who will miss out. Corey Anderson struggled on his comeback from injury but is likely to hold on to his place even if he will not be performing any bowling duties in the series. Spinners Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi will have an important role to play on a Kotla track that has aided spin bowlers in the past.
Probable line-ups
India: Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Virat Kohli, Manish Pandey, MS Dhoni (C) (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Amit Mishra, Jasprit Bumrah, Umesh Yadav.
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Martin Guptill / Anton Devcich, Kane Williamson (C), Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, Luke Ronchi (wk), James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi.
Conditions watch
The Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium, Delhi, is all set to host the second ODI of the series. One of India’s favourite hunting grounds, the Men in Blue haven’t tasted defeat in a One-Day International at this venue in over 10 years.
The pitch here has largely been batting-friendly over the years and is expected to play the same way come Thursday with some help for spinners on the cards. The last ODI played here in 2014 between India and West Indies ended with a 48-run victory for the home side with Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni smashing half-centuries.
Players will be up against the weather conditions as it is expected to be a sunny day in Delhi with temperatures expected to rise up to 35-degree-celsius.
Key stats
1) India are unbeaten at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in their last 6 matches, with their last defeat at this venue coming against arch-rivals Pakistan 11 years ago in 2005. India were beaten comprehensively by the neighbours in the game who scored 303 batting first and dismissed the Indians for a paltry 144.
2) The average total at the Kotla ground batting first is 232 and while chasing the average team score is 210.
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