India v New Zealand, 2nd ODI – Match Result Predictions

New Zealand absolutely shocked India in the first ODI at Wankhede. The Kiwis came out with crystal clear strategies and executed those perfectly to take a 1-0 lead in the 3-match series. The 2 teams now move to Pune, a city not too far away from Mumbai. The MCA Stadium will host the 2nd ODI which is expected to be a close encounter.

Where India started being the favorites, now find themselves in a do or die situation and on the other hand, New Zealand have a golden chance of winning their first ever bilateral ODI series in India. The hosts have emerged victorious in all the 5 previous series between the 2 sides but never have the Black Caps had such an opportunity to clinch the series.

The previous ODI played in Pune was won by India against England earlier this year where the men in blue chased down a target of 351. Virat Kohli and Kedar Jadhav scored hundreds and a magnificent partnership of 200 bailed the side out of trouble from 63/4 to script a superlative victory. Whether or not the current game produces a similar run-feast or not, only time will tell.

Here is what Crictracker predicts for the game:

Scenario 1: India wins the toss

Toss Prediction: India will choose to bowl first

First innings score prediction: 280-290

Result prediction: India will win the match by 5 wickets

Scenario 2: New Zealand wins the toss

Toss Prediction: New Zealand will choose to bowl first

First innings score prediction: 310-320

Result prediction: India will win the match by 10-20 runs

Head to Head Record

Overall: Total Matches – 102, India Won – 49, New Zealand Won – 44, No Result/Tied – 9

Matches in India: Total Matches – 35, India Won – 24, New Zealand – 8, No Result/Tied – 3

Even though New Zealand won the last game yet they are far behind in terms of victories in the country. Expect the visitors to come out hard in the next game as well but Kohli & Co. are too good to falter on consecutive occasions.

Playing Combinations:

India

The Indian openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma had an aggressive intent from the start in the last game but both fell early. The surface in Mumbai wasn’t the easiest to bat on and the skipper Kohli looked the class apart as he scored a brilliant hundred. Kedar Jadhav, Dinesh Karthik, MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya, all had decent beginnings but none of them carried on to make a substantial contribution.

The pacers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah weren’t too effective in the beginning and the inability to pick up wickets with the new ball hurt India badly. Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal were supposed to play the decisive roles but the opposition batsmen handled them beautifully. To bring more control in the middle overs, Axar Patel may be a better option.

Predicted XI: Shikhar Dhawan, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (c), Manish Pandey, Kedar Jadhav, MS Dhoni (wk), Hardik Pandya, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Axar Patel, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah

New Zealand

The visitors played a masterstroke by sending Colin Munro to open the innings. His aggressive approach gave the side the momentum from the start. The move to bat Tom Latham at No.5 did wonders too as his skills against the spinners gave stability to the chase. Latham’s century along with Ross Taylor’s 95 scripted a comfortable chase. The only thing that didn’t go their way was the early departure of the captain Kane Williamson.

The bowling was all about Trent Boult. The pacer initially accounted for the wickets of Dhawan and Rohit and then came back to dismiss Dhoni and Pandya to end with superb figures of 35/4. Even though Tim Southee proved to be costly, he bagged 3 wickets. Mitchell Santner did a wonderful job of holding up the runs in the middle overs.

Predicted XI: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Kane Williamson(c), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham(wk), Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Henry Nicholls, Trent Boult, Tim Southee, Adam Milne

Even though New Zealand ended up on the winning side, the hosts will come out harder. Kohli and his men will leave no stones unturned in trying to level the series and once again, they will start favorites.

The prediction is for an Indian comeback to level the series one game apiece.

Do let us know your predictions in the comments section below.