New Zealand are in Kane Williamson territory in Tauranga, but he could just rest his left shoulder with the series already lost. Two back-to-back losses in the fashion they did have raised questions of their finishing abilities, 'chokers' to some if social media is a barometer. They're currently in the kind of space that they'll gladly take a win, however it comes, reports Cricinfo.
Colin Munro's return to form makes it one headache less and he walks into a venue where he has two hundreds and a century in five innings at an average of 61.40 and strike rate of 193. But New Zealand's recent dip in form, including the Australia whitewash, remains a larger worry constantly fighting to remain in public memory.
Spirit of Cricket - like their juniors were lauded for at the Under-19 World Cup - is fine, it's also time to win. This message may not be explicitly written or told to them, but the players will know deep down that in a World Cup year, every opportunity counts and they should make the headlines for wins too.
Two weeks ago, India were playing in Bengaluru. Then having traversed several time zones to play in Auckland, Hamilton and Wellington in the space of five days, India are in Mount Maunganui. Camping here for three days should give them as much joy as they've derived from winning back-to-back Super Over thrillers.
India's uninhibited approach to a T20 innings is a refreshing change. Batsmen aren't worried about preserving their wickets, the team is open to being flexible, Virat Kohli has no problems batting out of position and KL Rahul keeping wickets lends better balance.
Manish Pandey, who struggled to break into the first XI earlier, is a beneficiary of this change. Injuries to their frontline fast bowlers in the format - Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Deepak Chahar - have pushed them to test their reserves, and the replacements have all delivered at some stage. Shardul Thakur, for example, has proven to not just be a swing option but also a death-bowling option. His hitting doesn't quite make the lower order seem brittle anymore.
Navdeep Saini gives them bristling pace, Jasprit Bumrah the consistency. Shivam Dude is also getting into the rhythm of bowling regularly, thereby accruing valuable experience that should help him should he be on the flight to Australia for the T20 World Cup.
The result of the bowling rejig has meant one of their wristspinners, mostly Kuldeep Yadav, has had to sit out. The team management may as well give him a go come Sunday.
