New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson on Wednesday won the toss and opted to bowl first against India in the third T20I of the five-match series at Seddon Park in Hamilton.
For New Zealand, Scott Kuggeleijn comes in for Blair Tickner, whereas India are unchanged.
“We will bowl first. A new surface, hopefully, we will get something from it. Need to follow our plans, we are playing a strong side, a new ground, a new surface, do the job with the ball. One change, Scott Kuggeleijn is in, for Blair Tickner. Both offer pretty much the same, both bowl heavy balls, perhaps, Scott is a bit better batsman,” said Williamson after winning the toss.
Meanwhile, India skipper Virat Kohli said: “I reckon (we would have bowled). Looks like a nice track, it’s pretty hard, nice grass cover, the weather might have a say in the second innings, but toss isn’t in our control. Just put a clinical performance, carry forward the momentum and grab the chances that come. Don’t worry about too many changes, just go out there and do the job. No changes once again, the boys did a good job with both bat and ball, no need to make any changes at all.”
Notably, after winning the first two matches, India lead the series 2-0.
Here are the Playing XIs of both the teams:
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson (captain), Colin de Grandhomme, Ross Taylor, Tim Seifert (wicketkeeper), Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee, Scott Kuggeleijn, Ish Sodhi, Hamish Bennett
India: Rohit Sharma, Lokesh Rahul (wicketkeeper), Virat Kohli (captain), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah