Time for India to make a clean-sweep in New Zealand

Maithilee Shetty

31 Jan 2019

New Update

Mandhana and Rodrigues' mammoth opening stand powers India to a 9-wicket victory — Smriti Mandhana celebrates her century. ©Getty Images

Match Preview: 3rd ODI - New Zealand vs India

Date: Friday, 1 February 2019

Venue: Seddon Park, Hamilton

India have won the series in the backyard of White Ferns. It’s time for New Zealand to reflect back at the drawing board. The White Ferns haven’t been batting well which has been reflected on the scoreboard. It is important to build the batting and bowling partnerships for New Zealand. They have to execute their plans on the field to win.

On the other end at the peak of their success is India. The bowlers and Smriti Mandhana’s formidable form has helped them defeat New Zealand by a huge margins in the first two ODIs. Mandhana has scored 194 and is the series' top run scorer. It will interesting to see whether New Zealand fight back hard or India leave no room for complacent performance and win the series 3-0.

Players to watch out for:

Ekta Bisht: The Indian Spinner has picked up 5 wickets over the course of 2 matches. The 32 year old has been amongst wickets along with her partner, Poonam Yadav. New Zealand batters haven’t been playing the spinners well. The spinners will play an important role in today’s match.

"Initially, a lot of people asked me if the spinners can turn the match around on these wickets. The spinners have been doing well from word go," said Mithali Raj, Indian Skipper

Amy Satterthwaite: The New Zealand captain has stood tall for her team in the past. She has been the only White Ferns batter amongst the runs scoring 71 in 2nd ODI.

"It's always about the team result and I think I got out at the time it was an important time to keep kicking on," said Amy Satterthwaite

Also Read: Ekta Bisht of old is back; much smarter and sharper

Conditions:

Seddon Park is the 4th largest ground in New Zealand. Most number of ODIs are won by the team batting second. It is a well-grassed stadium which is usually a good batting track but the men's game showcased that the bowlers will be in action too.

Who said what:

“We definitely want to make it 3-0. At the same time, we will try and give some of the youngsters an opportunity.”- Mithali Raj

“We have got to try to compete and play the game of cricket regardless of whether the series in line or not. We are also looking forward to World cup here in 2 years time and we have got to make sure we get it right.” -Amy Satterthwaite

Teams:

India: Mithali Raj (c), Jemimah Rodrigues, Smriti Mandhana, Deepti Sharma, Harmanpreet Kaur, Taniya Bhatia (w), Dayalan Hemalatha, Shikha Pandey, Jhulan Goswami, Ekta Bisht, Poonam Yadav, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Punam Raut, Mansi Joshi, Mona Meshram

New Zealand: Amy Satterthwaite (c), Suzie Bates, Sophie Devine, Lauren Down, Amelia Kerr, Maddy Green, Bernadine Bezuidenhout (w), Leigh Kasperek, Hannah Rowe, Holly Huddleston, Lea Tahuhu, Anna Peterson, Katie Perkins

India Mithali Raj Smriti Mandhana New Zealand WHITE FERNS Amy Satterthwaite