ICC World Cup 2019: Warm-up Match 4, India vs New Zealand, Match Prediction – Weather Report, Pitch Conditions, Playing XIs and Live Streaming Details

Coming into the World Cup, India lost their last three international series that included the 3-2 defeat in the ODI series against Australia. Despite the losses, experts reckon that India can go all the way The Men in Blue did well in the 2013 and 2017 Champions Trophy in England and even last year, Virat Kohli & Co. were reasonable versus the Brits, though India lost the three-match ODI series 1-2.

Team India is now set to play New Zealand in their first warm-up match of the World Cup at the Kennington Oval in London. A couple of months ago, Kohli’s men defeated the Black Caps, led by Kane Williamson, in the ODI series by a margin of 4-1. The Indian spinners were hard to get away and the Kiwis’ batsmen will again be faced with the challenge of tackling the likes of Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal.

Weather Report

According to the weather report, it won’t be a surprise if the game gets washed out as there is a chance of heavy rain from morning 11 AM to evening at 7 PM. The temperature will be around the 18 degrees Celsius with the humidity in the 50s. There will be a significant amount of cloud cover.

Pitch Report

The track at the venue mostly suits the team, batting second as 39 out of the 65 matches were won by the chasing teams. From 2011 onwards, 13 matches were won by the chasing teams. Hence, captains should opt to field first after winning the toss. The last completed One-Day International at this stadium took place a year ago between England and Australia.

Playing combinations

India

It goes without saying that India would want their top three- Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan and captain Kohli- to get into the groove. The team also needs to sort out its number four conundrum. MS Dhoni’s batting position also needs to be decided upon at the earliest. The likes of Vijay Shankar, Ravindra Jadeja and Dinesh Karthik will want to prove themselves. The fast bowlers need to find their lengths and rhythm as well.

Squad

Rohit Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Virat Kohli (C), Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya, Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, KL Rahul, MS Dhoni (wk), Dinesh Karthik (wk), Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Shami, Jasprit Bumrah, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal

New Zealand

The Kiwis will go into the game without Tom Latham who suffered a finger injury. It means that Tom Blundell may get a chance to show his prowess. The game will be important for Colin Munro, who has been in and out of the ODI team for quite some time. The onus will be on the likes of Williamson and Taylor to shoulder a chunk of the responsibility. Boult and Southee will also want to bring forth all their experience.

Squad

Kane Williamson (C), Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, Colin de Grandhomme, Colin Munro, James Neesham, Mitchell Santner, Tom Blundell (wk), Tom Latham (wk), Henry Nicholls, Trent Boult, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ish Sodhi

Probable Top Performer

Rohit Sharma – India | Kane Williamson – New Zealand

Broadcast Details

TV – Star Sports

Online- Hotstar

Match Timings – 15:00 IST; 10:30 local

The prediction is for India to win the match.