Having registered a comprehensive victory during the second T20I at The Bay Oval on Sunday, team India will have their eyes on accomplishing a third consecutive T20I bilateral series victory against New Zealand, during the third and final match at The McLean Park on Tuesday.
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The biggest challenge before New Zealand come Tuesday, will be to find a way to get rid of the man in red-hot form presently, Suryakumar Yadav.
Having scored his second T20I century on Sunday, the 32-year-old feels at ease against both pacers and spinners alike, which will make it all more challenging for the Kiwi bowlers to find a chink in his armor.
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As for India, apart from Yadav, the batting order looked largely ordinary as they hope to perhaps bring about a change in their T20 batting approach, which had been critiqued post the T20 World Cup 2022.
While Hardik Pandya will look to win his second consecutive T20I series victory as team India captain, New Zealand will be led by seamer Tim Southee, with Kane Williamson set to miss the encounter due to a pre-booked medical appointment.
McLean Park Napier T20 average score
The last T20I at the McLean Park, Napier took place in March 2021, when the hosts defeated Bangladesh by 28 runs during the second of the three-match T20I series. The venue will in fact, host only its fifth T20I tomorrow.
However, a total of 10 teams have played 25 T20 matches at the McLean Park from 2006-2021, and the average score across these games has been 169.4, which proves how good a batting surface the venue has produced over the years.
Highest successful run chase in Napier T20Is
Across 4 T20Is in Napier till date, twice have the teams batting second managed to chase down the target ahead of them.
Pakistan have registered the highest successful run chase at this venue in December 2020, when they chased down the total of 173/7 posted by hosts New Zealand.
Mohammad Rizwan’s knock of 89 (59), was instrumental in Pakistan getting over the line, as they accomplished the same with four wickets in hand and with a couple deliveries so spare.
