India eye series spoils after halting Kiwi’s winning run as questions arise on the spot vacated by Washington.
New Zealand’s winning run of nine games has abruptly ended. Even though their opponents, India, had a 3-3 record in their previous six games, this was the expected outcome due to the prevailing circumstances.
Despite losing the toss, New Zealand can be encouraged that they managed to bring India to the 99th over of the game. They would believe that even with their inexperienced team, they can shock full-strength India if they can do the same and score 20 more runs from somewhere.
On the other hand, even though they weren’t at their best with the bat, India will know they made it. They will not be pleased with the struggle after Virat Kohli was removed, even if they bowled well for the most part to hold New Zealand to 300. Even if they lose the toss, they would secretly think that if they can play close to their best, they can win the series and then try their luck in the final ODI.
Regarding the toss, no team has yet to effectively chase at this new Rajkot stadium despite its short sample size of four ODIs. However, the principle has remained the same: if you are batting first, bury the opposition beneath 350.