Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Average score at venue: 150
Win percentage while batting first: 59.09%
Pitch conditions:
- Both the captains will look to field after winning the toss since teams batting second have won all the matches played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium so far in this World Cup.
- While the pitch at this venue has had no demons for the batsmen, they still have struggled to put big scores on board. The West Indies recorded the lowest total of the tournament of 55 in the very first match at this ground.
- Fast bowlers have got 62.18% of the wickets at this ground, which puts them in a dominant position compared to the spin bowlers, who have got 37.82% of the dismissals.
Weather prediction:
It is going to be a bright and sunny day in Dubai on Sunday with the temperature hitting a high of 34°C around 1 o’clock, post which the mercury will drop down to 31°C in the evening after the sunset. The humidity levels will linger around 55 to 65% on Sunday evening.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD:
Matches played: 16
India won: 6
New Zealand won: 8
No result: –
In World Cup history:
Matches played: 2
India won: –
New Zealand won: 2
Tied: –
Last 5 matches:
India won: 5 (two in Super Overs)
New Zealand won: –
No result: –
Top 3 players from India: KL Rahul, R Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah
Top 3 players from New Zealand: Daryl Mitchell, Devon Conway, Ish Sodhi
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 5 players from India: KL Rahul, R Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, V Kohlii, Rishabh Pant
Top 5 players from New Zealand: Daryl Mitchell, Devon Conway, Ish Sodhi, Kane Williamson, Trent Boult
Q&A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
Picking more batsmen and particularly those who can chip in with a few overs will be of great value for this contest between India and New Zealand in the World Cup. Both the teams are coming off defeats in the previous matches against Pakistan, who have surprised one and all with splendid performances in all three matches that they have played. The fast bowlers will be carrying a greater responsibility of keeping the opposition down to moderate totals, which has been the case in this World Cup so far. Teams have not been able to notch up big scores yet in the Word Cup which is being played for the first time since 2016, and it remains to be seen if one among India and New Zealand are audacious enough to free up their arms and take the aggressive route.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
Both India and New Zealand lost to Pakistan in their respective tournament-openers of the World Cup. While India were swept aside in a one-sided contest in the first match of the Super 12 stage, New Zealand kept throwing punches until their fight was over against the rampant Pakistan. Both these teams will look to bounce back after disappointing starts, with pressure spelling further on the Indian cricket team to come good in what is going to be V Kohlii’s last tournament as captain. The second-placed Indian team is a stronger side compared to the Kiwis, given their recent history of domination in the shortest format of the game. India have won each of the last five matches that these two teams have played, which also involves two victories in Super Over contests. The Indian team may have collectively had an off day against Pakistan on October 24, but there is no reason why they cannot fire in unison against New Zealand.
MORE INFORMATION: With both India and New Zealand losing one game each so far in the World Cup, the pressure is piling up on the top teams of Group 2 to come good. A defeat on Sunday night at Dubai will put the losing side in a position of jeopardy since they will be losing out on points as well as the Net Run Rate (NRR), which might come into play later on in the tournament. With Pakistan notching up three victories on the trot, there could be a direct shootout between India and New Zealand for a place in the semi-finals stage, which implies that the time is ripe for these two teams to bring forth their ‘A’ game.
Players’ form: India would certainly not be worried about the form of their players despite their batsmen having an ordinary run against Pakistan. Kohlii stood tall with a splendid half-century to take India to a respectable total of 151/7, which was eventually not enough but still gave the signs that India have enough depth in their batting to keep getting to competitive totals. The bowlers of the Indian team certainly add a collective failure, particularly Mohammad Shami, who was expensive against Pakistan which led to an unwanted and embarrassing episode of him being abused by Indian fans on social media. For New Zealand, Daryl Mitchell and Devin Conway carry great responsibilities along with the likes of Kane Williamson and James Neesham. The Kiwi bowling attack it is well-balanced with their left-arm strike bowler Trent Boult set to pose some serious questions and challenges to the Indian batsmen.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
LIKELY XIs:
INDIA (IND): KL Rahul, R Sharma, V Kohlii (c), Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakravarthy, Mohammad Shami, Jasprit Bumrah.
New Zealand (NZ): Martin Guptill, Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, Kane Williamson (c), Tim Seifert (wk), Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Ish Sodhi.
FANTASY XI: R Sharma (vc), KL Rahul (c), Kane Williamson, V Kohlii, James Neesham, Ravindra Jadeja, Rishabh Pant (wk), Mitchell Santner, Jasprit Bumrah, Trent Boult, Varun Chakravarthy.
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India, New Zealand look to bounce back after disappointing starts
There will be no exaggeration in saying that New Zealand along with India are among the contenders in this World Cup, and after a disappointing start which both the sides made to the tournament, it is time for them to shrug off the rust and get ready for battles ahead.
India and New Zealand both had collective failures in their respective matches against Pakistan, which led to the Asian team recording a spectacular start to the tournament with victories over the other dangerous teams in Group 2. With Pakistan now standing at the top of the points table with three victories on the trot, the onus is now on New Zealand and India to up the ante and push their cases for a place in the semi-finals.
While Pakistan have so far played three matches, India and New Zealand have only had one game each. This kind of scheduling and the results that the Pakistani team has been able to obtain has provided them with a chance to get far ahead of the other big teams in Group 2, who will now be playing the catch up game in the remainder of the Super 12 stage.
India had a collective failure with the bat against Pakistan but they will be better off knowing that a disappointing defeat — first in the history of the World Cup tournament against their arch-rivals — and an overall bad day in the competition is already out of the way. It is now time for them to bounce back and play the brand of cricket that they have been playing for the last few years, particularly against the Kiwis’ side.
In 16 matches, New Zealand have recorded victories in half of them while India have won only 6. Two of these games have ended as tied games. Of the 6 which the Indian team have won, 5 victories have come in last as many games with 2 recorded in Super Over contests. India had blanked New Zealand 5-0 during their away series in 2020, something which would certainly provide confidence to them going into the contest.
India will be concerned with the form of Hardik Pandya who has been carried into the tournament on the basis of promise and not exactly on performances. Pandya has only started to bowl in the nets after the game against Pakistan, which tells that both the management and the cricketer are under pressure since he occupies an important spot in the team, ahead of some other inform players such as Ishan Kishan. While Kishan does not bowl, Pandya’s inclusion in the team as a pure batsman certainly makes the wicketkeeper-batsman look a better option given that he has been garnering a lot of runs in recent matches.
On the other hand, New Zealand will be better off from their defeat against Pakistan. In that game, New Zealand experimented with their batting line-up, sending Daryl Mitchell as an opening batsman for the first time and featuring Jimmy Neesham at the coveted No 4 slot. However, it was the failure of the Kiwis with the bat who just did not get enough boundaries, something which had led to the downfall of the Indian team previously.
The New Zealand spin bowling attack will carry a great responsibility on these pitches since containment has been the key to success with teams wanting to field first after winning the toss. Ish Sodhi claimed a couple of wickets against Pakistan whereas Mitchell Santner grabbed one, but the Kiwis would still want better returns from their slow bowlers. In the pace attack, New Zealand will hope that Trent Boult will continue to dominate the right-handed batsmen in the Indian team such as R Sharma, KL Rahul, Kohlii, Suryakumar Yadav and Pandya, if selected.
