
1. Team News - India
Nothing went right for India in the firsts T20I as New Zealand amassed 219 before the visitors surrendered meekly in the steep chase. Opener Tim Seifert took the Indian bowlers to cleaners with a 43-ball 84 and India must have a plan to contain him. Not even the seasoned Bhuvneshwar Kumar was spared as he, alongside Hardik Pandya and Khaleel Ahmed, leaked 12 runs an over. The team could replace Ahmed with either Siddharth Kaul or Mohammad Siraj. The spinners, Krunal Pandya and Yuzvendra Chahal, did alright but the team management will also consider including chinaman Kuldeep Yadav. The lack of fight in the run chase was a big disappointment, as mentioned by captain Rohit Sharma in Wellington. Despite having eight batsmen in the eleven, India lost by 80 runs. Rohit himself would like to lead from the front after scoring 1 on Wednesday and a significant contribution will also be expected from Rishabh Pant, who is in the running for a World Cup berth. All-rounder Vijay Shankar was promoted to number three and did alright with an 18-ball 27. It remains to be seen if he gets another shot at the same position or the team brings in Shubman Gill, who would be desperate to perform after the two failures in ODIs.

2. Team News - New Zealand
Home side captain Kane Williamson could not be more happy with the showing in the first T20I but wants his team to fully focus on the job at hand. "It was a complete performance that doesn't happen everyday and hope we can keep the momentum through the series having set the tone," he said. The dangerous opening duo of Colin Munro and Seifert put the Indian pacers under tremendous pressure and dismissing them cheaply will be crucial for the visitor's chances. Coming back into the side after playing just one ODI against India, veteran Tim Southee proved his immense value with tidy figures of 17 runs in four over including three wickets. The spinners, Ish Sodhi and Santner, too were on top of the Indian batsmen, sharing two wickets apiece.

3. The Squads:
India: Rohit Sharma (Captain), Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant, Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni, Krunal Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Siddarth Kaul, Khaleel Ahmed, Shubman Gill, Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya, Mohammad Siraj.
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (Captain), Doug Bracewell, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Scott Kuggeleijn, Colin Munro, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, Blair Tickner, James Neesham.

4. Telecast
The match will be live on Star Sports Networks from 11.30 AM IST. It will also be streamed live on HotStar and you can also track the live updates by MyKhel.


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