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ICC World T-20, Live Cricket Score : India vs New Zealand -In-form India target first win over New Zealand





Nagpur:This is where it really begins: Nagpur's VCA Stadium on Tuesday. The qualifying stage is over, and now the major teams come into play as phase two of the 2016 ICC World Twenty20 starts with hosts India taking on New Zealand, in their first T20I in the post Brendon McCullum era.

And this is what all the teams have been building up for. India own a superb 10-1 record in T20Is this year, but it will amount to little if those wins aren't translated into success at the first World Twenty20 played at home. This is the reason the BCCI rejigged the domestic season, and had India playing so many T20Is this year. India want the big prize they first won in 2007. 

 The superb build-up run has made India the clear favourites for an unprecedented second World Twenty20 title but the in-form hosts will have to guard against complacency when they take on a spirited New Zealand in their campaign-opener here on Tuesday.No host country has won the T20 world title in the last five editions and none has repeated a title triumph, but India's settled combination, led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and familiarity with the conditions make them the odds-on favourites to script history.

The 2007 Champions, India go into the Super 10 Group 2 clash against New Zealand with their tails up as the number one ranked team in the world.


India have been on a roll in the shortest form of the game, winning their last seven outings which included a 3-0 whitewash of World 50-over champions Australia in the latter's backyard.

They then went on to win the Asia Cup on a canter after beating Sri Lanka at home 2-1.

The five consecutive wins in Dhaka, including in the summit clash against Bangladesh that led to their continental supremacy in the T20 game, has given the team a huge morale boost.

However, Dhoni's men will be wary of the fact that they have never beaten New Zealand in T20s in four outings in the past including once during their stunning title run in the inaugural edition in 2007 in South Africa.

But in home conditions, India would be a big threat to the rest of the competitors, including New Zealand.

The minor hiccup in India's build-up to this competition was their loss to South Africa by four runs in a practice match and this was perhaps a wake-up call for the team to avoid being complacent.
India do have the wherewithal and the personnel to script history and a win in Tuesday's opening game at the VCA Stadium in Jamtha would give them the ideal momentum to take on the challenges ahead head-on.

Virat Kohli has been in terrific form, in the last two months. On top of his game, the Test skipper has made four half-centuries in seven innings, and two other scores in the 40s, besides leading four successful run-chases.

With an average of over 50 after 38 matches, he remains one of the players who will be feared by the opposition along with the equally talented Rohit Sharma who is set to play in his sixth WT20 championship.

Shikhar Dhawan's form has been patchy at best but the knock of 73 he made in the warm-up game against South Africa should have given him as well as the team a considerably boost going into the tournament.

With the likes of Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh and Dhoni himself to follow apart from Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja, India can bat deep down the order.

The unearthing of Jasprit Bumrah to bowl effectively at the early stages as well as in the death has given the team the much-needed go-to-man when things don't go as per plans.

With the vastly experienced Ashish Nehra, who has played in just one WT20 event earlier, and the timely return to fitness of Mohammed Shami, India have the pacers to do the job effectively. To add variety to medium-pace, there's Pandya.

It's in the spin department that they have an embarrassment of riches, barring a leg spinner.

The duo of Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja should be the front-runners to take up two spots and the team has the choice of adding either Harbhajan Singh or Pawan Negi to the combination.
New Zealand too have the players to trouble India although they would be missing the fire-power and attacking captaincy of Brendon McCullum who has retired recently.

Led by Kane Williamson, a classically elegant batsman who ups his gears when opening in T20Is, the Kiwis are well-served with a set of explosive batsmen in Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Grant Elliott, Ross Taylor and Corey Anderson.

They have a very good pace battery, including left-right combinations, and a varied spin attack to fall upon in the middle overs, for containment as well as taking wickets.

The Kiwis had also won four out of their last five T20 Internationals -- against Pakistan and Sri Lanka -- but showed little hints of vulnerability to spin by England who checked in their stunning progress in the warm-up game in Mumbai.

A packed house, which will be a huge plus for India is expected to be treated to some thrilling on-field action at the Jamtha stadium.

The rival squads (from):

India: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (C), Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin, Jasprit Bumrah, Ashish Nehra, Harbhajan Singh, Pawan Negi, Ajinkya Rahane, Mohammed Shami.

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (C), Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Luke Ronchi, Ross Taylor, Colin Munro, Mitchell Santer, Nathan McCullum, Grant Elliott, Mitchell McClenaghan, Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Adam Milne, Ish Sodhi, Corey Anderson.

Venue: VCA Stadium, Nagpur
Date: March 15, 2016
Time:
07:30 pm IST
Weather: A humid day with temperatures ranging from 27 to 36 degrees Celsius


Warm-up results:

New Zealand's warm-up results
were a smooth 74-run win over Sri Lanka in Mumbai and then a six-wicket loss to England. Against Sri Lanka, they racked up 226/4 with sixties to Munro and Anderson, followed by three wickets to Adam Milne. Against England, however, barring Williamson (63 off 39 balls) the batting struggled, especially against spin. A target of 170 was achieved by England with four balls left.

For India,
a 45-run victory over West Indies in Kolkata was followed by a four-run loss to South Africa in Mumbai. Rohit Sharma ended 98 not out from a total of 185/6 and four of seven bowlers used picked up two wickets, including Mohammed Shami on his comeback from injury. South Africa proved tougher, with Quinton de Kock and JP Duminy striking fifties in a total of 196/8. Chasing that, Shikhar Dhawan's 73 powered the way but wickets kept falling and in the end, some big shots from Yuvraj Singh (16* off eight) and Dhoni (30* off 16) weren't enough.

Quote unquote:

"We're pretty confident with the way we have been playing. We've won 10 out of the last 11 games. We'd probably try to execute the same things that we have done, which has got us success." - Virat Kohli

You can't prepare yourself for that when you're playing on green ones with a bit of pace. That's the way it is. When you change format or venue you need to adapt very quickly and it's a quick change for us. We've known that for a while but it's still very difficult to prepare for." - Mike Hesson, New Zealand coach

T20I record in 2016

India:            P
11 W 10 L 1
New Zealand: P
5 W 4 L 1

Key stats:

-
India have never beaten New Zealand in T20Is

- Yuvraj is India's joint-highest run-scorer in T20Is versus New Zealand, with 90 from four innings.

- Of the current squad, only two bowlers have taken a wicket against India in T20Is - Tim Southee (2) and Nathan McCullum (1)

Ground conditions:
The VCA Stadium at Jamtha on the outskirts of Nagpur is known to be a dusty, spin-friendly surface but the recent qualifying round matches there saw scores of 186, 170 and 158 to go with some middling totals between 116 and 127.

 Spin had a say in many of the matches played there over the past week, which indicates the way both India and New Zealand should pick their sides. Before the World T20, Nagpur had previously hosted just one T20I between India and Sri Lanka in 2009. On that occasion, Sri Lanka made 215/5 and India managed 186/9 in reply.



source:zee news and timesofindia

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