In-form India look to inflict more misery on New Zealand (Preview)

In-form India will look to inflict more misery on New Zealand when the two sides meet for the second One Day International match here on Saturday.

India beat the hosts all ends up in the first rubber riding the spin duo of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.

The Kiwi batsmen looked out of sorts in their own backyard and faced with a fiery spell from pacer Mohammad Shami, they could not hold the fort.

At the Bay Oval here, the wrist spinners, who shared six wickets between them, would look to do the same against their opponents again.

In the batting department, India are yet to finalise their middle order ahead of the World Cup.

They will welcome back Hardik Pandya who will be joining the squad here after the Committee of Administrators (CoA) revoked his and Lokesh Rahul's suspension.

All-rounder Vijay Shankar played in the first game but the team management could bring back Ravindra Jadeja depending on the conditions.

Out of form Ambati Rayudu, who managed an unbeaten 13 off 23 on Wednesday, could get another opportunity.

Opener Shikhar Dhawan roared back to form in the first match, scoring an unbeaten 75 in the team's comprehensive win. Dhawan was out of form Down Under and will get confidence from that knock.

More changes can be expected in the eleven after Kohli takes a break following the third ODI on January 28, creating an opening for the likes of Shubman Gill to make their India debut.

The hosts, who inflicted a 4-0 whitewash on India last time, could face more misery if they don't pull up their socks immediately.

'We were severely outplayed the other day,' said pacer Trent Boult on Friday.

'Batsmen are looking to right a few wrongs, come out and set a good platform and obviously put a good target on the board and see what happens from there,' he added.

For the Kiwis, only skipper Kane Williamson played well but the other batsmen failed miserably.

Teams:

India: Virat Kohli (captain), Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, Vijay Shankar, Shubman Gill, Yuzvendra Chahal, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mohammed Siraj, Khaleel Ahmed, Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya.

New Zealand: Kane Williamson (captain), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Martin Guptill, Colin de Grandhomme, Trent Boult, Henry Nicholls, Doug Bracewell, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Colin Munro, Ish Sodhi, Micthell Santner, Tim Southee.

--IANS

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