India will face New Zealand in the 1st game of the 3-match T20I series that will be played on the 18th of November at the Sky Stadium, in Wellington
Both teams lost the semi-final of the recently concluded T20I World Cup in Australia. India and New Zealand were the two strongest teams in the tournament but they lost the semi-finals against England and Pakistan respectively.
India is currently ranked as the number one T20I side in the ICC rankings.
The men in blue have won 3 out of their last 5 T20I games.
Meanwhile, New Zealand is in the 5th position on the T20I rankings and they have also won 3 out of their last 5 matches.
India has announced a second string side for this series.
Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, and KL Rahul have been rested while Ravindra Jadeja and Jasprit Bumrah are still injured.
Hardik Pandya will lead the side while Rishabh Pant is appointed as the vice-captain of the team.
New Zealand has also dropped two of their most experienced players Martin Guptill and Trent Boult from this T20I series.
Kane Williamson will continue to lead the T20 side of New Zealand.
Live Streaming and Broadcast
This match will be broadcast live on Star Sports network while the Live streaming will be available on Fan code.
Match Details:
Match – 1st T20I 2022
Teams – India vs New Zealand
Date – 18th November 2022
Time – 11:30 AM IST
Venue – Sky Stadium, Wellington
Average 1st innings total at this venue
The average 1st innings score in Wellington is 169 runs.
Head-to-Head record in T20Is:
Here is the head-to-head record between India and New Zealand in T20 Internationals.
Total Matches Played – 20
India won – 11
New Zealand won – 9
Tie/ No Result – 0
Pitch Report:
The pitch at the Sky Stadium is known as a batting-friendly wicket where the batters can score runs freely.
The spinners can play a key role in the middle overs while the pacers will need to bowl at the right areas to pick up wickets.
Both captains will like to bowl first and chase this total on this surface.
Weather Report:
The temperature is expected to hover around 20°C with 70% humidity and 14 km/hr wind speed on the match day. There is an 18% chance of precipitation during the match.
Squads:
Here are the squads of both sides for the T20 International series;
India:
Hardik Pandya (C), Shubman Gill, Suryakumar Yadav, Shreyas Iyer, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Rishabh Pant, Ishan Kishan, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshal Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Umran Malik.
New Zealand:
Kane Williamson ©, Michael Bracewell, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, Lockie Ferguson, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Blair Tickner.
Possible Playing XIs:
Here are the possible playing XIs of both teams,
India:
Hardik Pandya ©, Rishabh Pant (wk), Shubman Gill, Deepak Hooda, Surya Kumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
New Zealand:
Kane Williamson ©, Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Blair Tickner
Winner Prediction:
India won their last series in New Zealand but they will be playing with their second-strength side in this series.
On the other hand, New Zealand has played some excellent cricket against India in recent times and they will come hard against this young Indian side.
Hence, we predict that New Zealand will beat India in the first T20 International of this series.
