New Zealand vs India: Opportunity for Youngsters to Shine

• India lead the head to head record against New Zealand by 11 wins to 9. 
• India have won four of the last five clashes between the two teams.
• India will be looking to play an aggressive brand of cricket with a young squad.

New Zealand vs India Odds

Odds taken from bet365

New Zealand vs India Prediction and Pick

The two teams share a pretty competitive rivalry in T20 internationals. Out of 20 T20Is played between the two sides, India have claimed 11 while New Zealand have won 9. India will be without a few of their senior players but have an able squad. We predict India to win the first T20I on Friday.  

Predicted XI 

New Zealand: Finn Allen, Devon Conway (wk), Kane Williamson (c), Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Blair Tickner, Lockie Ferguson/Adam Milne 

India: Shubman Gill, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Hardik Pandya (c), Rishabh Pant/Sanju Samson (wk), Washington Sundar, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal 

Opportunity for Youngsters to Shine as India Take on New Zealand

Days after suffering defeats in their respective semi-final clashes in the T20 World Cup, New Zealand and India will face each other in three T20Is and three ODIs. India's tour will kick off with the first T20I taking place in Wellington on Friday, November 18th.

New Zealand punched above their weight in an ICC tournament yet again as they reached the semifinals, having blasted Australia in the opening game. They topped their group with three wins and a washout, courtesy of a superior net run-rate. 

In the semi-final, the Black Caps suffered a seven-wicket loss at the hands of Pakistan. Their batting didn't quite click, with Kane Williamson taking 42 balls to score 46 runs. Daryl Mitchell smashed 53* off 35 to propel them to 152/4. The bowling unit couldn't land an early blow, conceding a century stand for the opening wicket. 

India bossed the group stage with four wins from five games, with their only loss coming against South Africa. The men in blue met England in the semi-final and took a serious thrashing by 10 wickets. 

India's top order was too cautious yet again, struggling to change the gears. Virat Kohli struck a fifty off 40 balls but it was Hardik Pandya who provided the big push. He struck 63 off 33 balls to take the total to 168/6. Indian bowlers were immediately put under pressure and could not recover as the English opening pair hunted down the target in just 16 overs. 

Team News

New Zealand have only made a couple of changes to their squad for this series, with Martin Guptill and Trent Boult left out. Blair Tickner has been included and could well start in the playing XI. Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi and Mitch Santner form the bowling attack, with Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne competing for a spot. The batting line-up remains as it was in the world cup. Finn Allen will be the key in getting them off to a flying start while Devon Conway plays anchor. Glenn Phillips will be crucial in the middle order.

India are without their senior trio of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul on this tour. Along with captain Hardik Pandya, they will rely on Suryakumar Yadav and Shreyas Iyer in the batting department. Youngsters will get opportunities, with Shubman Gill likely to make his T20I debut. India have some selection dilemmas, especially with Rishabh Pant - whether to open with him or bat down. One of Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson is likely to miss out. In the bowling unit, they have Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Harshal Patrl and Umran Malik as pace options while Yuzvendra Chahal and Washington Sundar handle spin department. 

Key Players 

Hardik Pandya had a pretty good T20 World Cup campaign, where he made an impact with both bat and ball. He picked eight wickets in the group stage and scored an important 40 against Pakistan. Later he smashed 63 off 33 in the semi-final versus England. Hardik has scored 564 runs in T20Is this year at 33 average and 146 strike rate while snaring 20 wickets with the ball. 

Glenn Phillips was amongst the best performers in the recent world cup. He scored 201 runs in five games at an average of 40 while striking at 158. Phillips blasted 104 off 64 versus Sri Lanka and almost took the game away from England with 62 off 36. Phillips has 1295 runs in international T20s, averaging 33 at a strike rate of 147 with two hundred and seven fifties. 

How to Watch New Zealand vs India

• What: New Zealand vs India, 1st T20I 
• Where: Sky Stadium, Wellington
• When: November 18, 2022 / 1:30 AM EST 
• How to watch: Amazon Prime Video (India), SportsMax (Caribbean), Fox Sports & Channel 7 (Australia), Sky Sport NZ (New Zealand), SuperSport (South Africa), Willow TV (USA), Sky Sports Cricket (United Kingdom)