India lose top spot in WTC standings after losing 0-3 to NZ
New Zealand, meanwhile, regained the fourth spot they lost to South Africa after the Proteas whitewashed Bangladesh earlier this week.
Rohit Sharma, who is filling the captaincy shoes in the surprising absence of Virat Kohli, opted to bat first in the last Twenty-20 International (T20I) at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday. For New Zealand, Kane Williamson doesn’t seem to have recovered yet as Tim Southee was the one who tossed the coin.
Other than Rohit for Kohli, the Men in Blue have not brought any other changes. New Zealand have also decided to go with the same eleven which took to the field two days back in Wellington.
Informing that he will bat at three and Sanju Samson and KL Rahul will open, Rohit said, “The combination we played in the last game was very good and we want to continue with that as well. We want to continue the momentum and it is not every day that we get a chance to make it 5-0.”
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Southee on his part said, “ We were looking to bowl as well. It looks like a good surface and hopefully we can restrict them to a low total. Kane was a late change, he still felt a bit of discomfort after a few throwdowns and hopefully he’ll be fit for the one-dayers. Winning is ideal, but you don’t want to keep worrying about the outcome.”
Having already won all the matches, including two back-to-back super-over victories, the Indian team tested their bench strength in the last T20I of the five-match series and the team management look to have extended their faith in the three new players who were brought in on Friday.
IND vs NZ 5th T20I: Playing XI
India: KL Rahul (WK), Sanju Samson, Rohit Sharma (C), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah.
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Tim Seifert (WK), Ross Taylor, Tom Bruce, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tim Southee (C), Ish Sodhi, Hamish Bennett
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