Two top teams of ODI World Cup 2023, India & New Zealand are all set to lock horns with each other in Match 21 of the tournament. India & New Zealand are the only two unbeaten teams in the tournament so far. Both the teams have played four matches & have won all four of them. However, due to better NRR, the Black Caps occupy the No 1 spot at the Points table with an NRR of 1.923. One out of these two teams will stay unbeaten at home. Which team it will be?
TEAMS PREVIEW
India Preview
Indian team is leading the Points table of the ODI World Cup 2023. They outplayed Bangladesh in their fixture against Pune on 19th October to establish the No. 2 spot at the Points table. After wrapping Bangladesh’s innings to a below-the-par score of 256-8, India marched towards a win with vital contributions from their top-order lineup. Shubman Gill scored a half-century while Rohit too contributed with a brisk 48. The star performer of the day Kohli scored 48th ODI ton to chase the target with ease.
Rohit is the top run scorer for India in the ongoing World Cup 2023 with 265 runs in 4 innings at an average of 66.25. He is followed by Kohli who has 259 runs in 4 innings at 129.50. The duo will continue to be the biggest bets for India along with Shubman Gill who smashed a double ton in an ODI fixture in 2023. With 1299 ODI runs in 22 matches at an average of 68.36 with 5 centuries and 6 fifties, he will be the player to watch out for India. KL Rahul coming at No. 5 is another player to watch out for India.
In the bowling order, Bumrah has been the leading wicket-taker with 10 wickets in 4 innings at an average of just 13.40. He will be the bowler to watch out along with India’s two top spinners, Kuldeep Yadav (6 wickets in 4 innings) and Ravindra Jadeja (7 wickets in 4 innings), who are regularly choking opposition in the middle overs.
Hardik suffered an ankle injury in their last game & will have to miss this fixture. The team might bring in Mohammad Shami in place of Shardul Thakur & Suryakumar in place of Pandya.
India Predicted Playing XI:
Rohit Sharma (c), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Suryakumar Yadav /Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammad Shami/Shardul Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand Preview
The Black Caps are the team to reckon with in the ongoing ODI World Cup 2023. They have outplayed their opponents with massive scores & will aim to do the same when face India. In their last game against Afghanistan New Zealand was successful in outclassing the Afghan clan by 149 runs after posting a mammoth 288-6 runs total on board.
The Blackcaps have a strong top & middle order led by Devon Conway. The left-handed opener is leading New Zealand’s batting charts in the World Cup 2023 with 249 runs in 4 innings at an average of 83. Prolific spinning bowling all-rounder Rachin Ravindra (214 runs in 4 innings at 71.66) has shown good prowess at the No 3 spot. However, it’s worth seeing how Ravindra can fare against India’s bowling attack on this batters-friendly pitch.
New Zealand will be boosting with Tom Latham’s & Glenn Phillips’s blistering performances in their last match. Both the batters weren’t on scoring terms but this match would have given them a lot of confidence.
On this wicket, the Black Caps fast bowlers will pose a great challenge to India’s bowling unit. The trio of Trent Boult, Matt Henry & Lockie Ferguson will get plenty of assistance from this pitch which can trouble the Indian batters who have struggled on this pitch when it has assisted the fast bowlers.
The left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner who is the leading wicket-taker in World Cup history with 11 scalps will be their biggest bets. Santner will keep things tight for India which could result in batters getting dismissed early.
Pitch report
The pitch at Dharamsala is a sporting one. It offers plenty of bounce & seam movement for the pacers under the lights. Do fast bowlers will get assistance throughout the fixture. Batters will have to make strokes carefully with pace turning as the ruling factor.
The weather in Dharamsala will be partly cloudy and cool. A thunderstorm is predicted in spots in the afternoon.
Toss To Bat:
Three matches have been played so far at Dharamsala which have been won by teams batting first. Thus this suggests that the teams winning the toss should opt to bat first.
Winning Prediction
India & New Zealand have won all the fixtures they have played so far in the tournament. The seam-friendly pitch of Dharamsala could assist New Zealand more than India. However, India is in its best form & is hard to beat on their home ground. It is a tough call to predict who can win this fixture, however, the team facing the pace attack aptly can emerge victorious.
Also read, Players who can step in as Hardik Pandya’s Replacement
