Preview, 3rd ODI: India look to cash in on momentum

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Kanpur, October 28: India will aim to display the same grit and gumption in the second match in Pune when they square off against New Zealand in the ODI series-decider here on Sunday (October 29)

Faced with tremendous pressure after a long time following their loss in the first ODI of the three-match series, the Indian players showed lot of character to put up a near flawless performance in the second game to level the series 1-1.

Captain Virat Kohli and his team thrive on challenges and they will back themselves to win their seventh ODI series in a row, when they take the field at the Green Park Stadium, which will be hosting its first ever 50-over game under lights.

The Indian team executed its plans perfectly in Pune, especially on the bowling front with in-form pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah doing the job early on as well as in the death overs.

The spinners bounced back well after an off-day in Mumbai.
Yuzvendra Chahal, who failed to pick up a wicket in the first game, struck twice while Axar Patel, replacing chinaman Kuldeep Yadav, found the stumps of the in-form Tom Latham.

Kohli may not want to tinker with a winning combination, therefore, it remains to be seen whether Yadav gets a chance to play in front of his home crowd.

On the batting front, a big positive for India in Pune was Dinesh Karthik delivering at No 4 with an unbeaten 64. He had batted at number five in the series opener but he himself said that four is his preferred spot.

Shikhar Dhawan getting a fifty plus score after six innings was also good news for India.

However, his opening partner Rohit Sharma is due for a big score after making 7 and 20 in the earlier games.

The Black Caps too would look to get back to winning ways as they remain within touching distance of winning a rare series in India.

Squads: India: Virat Kohli (Captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Ajinkya Rahane, Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Shardul Thakur.

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (Captain), Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Martin Guptill, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Henry Nicholls, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Ross Taylor, George Worker, Ish Sodhi.

Match Start: I:30 pm IST.

Live on: Start Sports 1 and 3