With the weather forecast yet again threatening to seep energy out of the Cricket fans, India and New Zealand will take on each other in the second of three-match T20I series at the Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui on Sunday (today).
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India’s stand-in captain of the series, Hardik Pandya, will yet again be ready to get up and going while leading a relatively younger side in the absence of the likes of Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Mohammed Shami (to name a few) from the T20 World Cup squad.
New Zealand, on the other hand, will be led by Kane Williamson who has been in the news of late for reasons he wouldn’t like to. While there are talks of his conservative batting approach in the format on one hand, the other is regarding his IPL franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), which decided to release him ahead of IPL 2023 auction, after retaining him as their skipper last season.
He will take the field alongside a majority of the core group of players which played the World Cup, barring fast bowler Trent Boult.
Bay Oval T20 average score
A track which is generally considered a batting paradise, the Bay Oval surface, last hosted a T20I back in November 2020, when New Zealand defeated West Indies by 72 runs after posting a humongous total of 238/3, on the back of Glenn Philip’s maiden T20I ton.
Across a total of 27 complete T20 matches at the Bay Oval from 2010-2022, the average score stands at 164.6, with the highest team total of 243 runs.
The average score across the 7 T20Is which have taken place here so far, is 183.6, which is indicative enough of what to expect during the match today if weather permits.
Highest successful T20 run chases at Bay Oval
The highest successful run-chase at the Bay Oval was accomplished back in January 2013, when the Northern Districts had chased down the target of 198 runs handed by Wellington, during the Men’s Super Smash Twenty20 tournament.
Northern Districts had posted 200/1 in 19 Overs itself, thereby winning the contest by 9 wickets.
As far as the seven T20Is at this venue are concerned, all of them have been won by the teams batting first so far.
