India (347/4) was outplayed by New Zealand (348/6) by four wickets in the first ODI at Seddon Park, crushing India’s confidence post T20I whitewash 5-0. After pulling off this action-paced thriller, Kiwis are all geared up to take the lead 2-0 in the three-match ODI rubber. The second match of this series will take place on 8th February at 7:30 AM in Eden Park. The last clash marked Black Caps' most successful chase in ODIs against India. Moreover, it was their highest chase at Seddon Park, surpassing the previous record of 347 set by Australia in the 2007 encounter.
Black Caps’ batting and bowling departments look strong, especially considering Ross Taylor’s masterful century and Henry Nicholls’ unbeaten performance in the 1st ODI. On the other hand, India had an equally explosive batting line-up consisting of K L Rahul and Shreyas Iyer but their undisciplined bowling let them down. In the upcoming match, Men in Blue will work on their fielding concerns and perhaps change the debatable decision of taking Shardul Thakur over Navdeep Saini and Kuldeep Yadav over Yuzvendra Chahal. These bowlers have proved to be really expensive for the team.
Pitch Report
The track at Eden Park is a flat batting surface known for high-scoring encounters. Since it is a small ground, bowlers will have a hard time, while batsmen will be dominating the pitch.
Weather Conditions
On Saturday, it will be partly cloudy as the temperature will be around 23 degree Celsius. Rain gods might not play a spoilsport because there is only 10% possibility of rain in Auckland.
Probable Playing XI
India: Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli (c), Shreyas Iyer, K L Rahul (w), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Navdeep Saini, Mohammed Shami, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Tom Blundell, Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Jimmy Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, Hamish Bennett
Key Players
India
Shreyas Iyer
Virat Kohli
New Zealand
Ross Taylor
Henry Nicholls
