After shining through the first two games, India are set to take on New Zealand in the third T20I on Tuesday in Wellington. Leading 2-0, India are in a dominant position and would look to seal the series win, having already shown their prowess in all departments in the past two games. In the first two games, the men in blue completed successful chases, leaving New Zealand in a do-or-die position. The most amazing thing for India has been their ability to bounce back from tricky situations and go all the way. That consistency was very noticeable in the previous two games, where the visitors, despite being cornered at times, managed to survive and pull off stunning chases.

In the second game, chasing a target of 181, India found themselves in a difficult position after losing their top-order players early; however, their middle-order batters Tilak Varma and Nitish Reddy answered the call, stepping up with 51 and 26-run knock to power India to a four-wicket win. The duo forged a superb seventh-wicket partnership to help India complete their highest successful run chase in T20I cricket. New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner delivered a destructive spell of 4-21, but that too couldn’t make any difference for New Zealand. 

For New Zealand, they also have their positives. The hosts have been able to manage to put India under pressure, but the bigger concern for them has been their repeated failure to maintain that pressure and unleash decisive blows at crucial moments. In the opening game as well, the Black caps posted a massive target of 226, but again they stumbled in their efforts to stop India from running away with the win.

Glenn Phillips has been one of their brilliant performers, blasting 82 off 40 in the series opener, which was followed by another heroic innings of 70 in the second match. Bevon Jacobs has also made a strong impression, making valuable runs in both encounters. But the overriding challenge for them would be to sustain pressure and keep India at bay in the third game if they are to make their comeback. while India would hope to carry on with the rhythm to finish the job. 

Head-to-head

Matches - 33

IND won - 21

NZ won - 11

Tied - 1

India possible XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh

New Zealand possible XI: Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (wk), Bevon Jacobs, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Jacob Duffy