New Zealand captain Kane Williamson won the toss and chose to bowl in the ongoing second ODI against India at the Seddon Park. Having won their last five ODIs against India and not losing one against them at this venue since 2009, the Kiwis would be looking to register a victory and seal this three-match series.
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“We are gonna have a bowl. Surface has been under covers a little. So, hopefully our seamers can extract whatever little help they can get,” Williamson told Spark Sport at the toss.
The only change for the home team has come in the form of all-rounder Michael Bracewell getting a match ahead of fast bowler Adam Milne. “We are playing the extra slow option today in Michael Bracewell in place of Adam Milne,” Williamson added.
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India, on the other hand, have made a couple of changes to their Playing XI in their attempt to cover all bases to avoid a series loss with a match to be played on Wednesday. As a result, batter Deepak Hooda and pacer Deepak Chahar have come in for batter Sanju Samson and pacer Shardul Thakur.
Samson, who scored an impressive 36 (38) in the first ODI at the Eden Park on Friday, should consider himself a bit hard done by especially after considering how well he has batted in this format this year. With India conceding in excess of 300 runs while defending a target in Auckland, the team management has included Hooda for his skills as a sixth bowling option.
Thakur, meanwhile, had picked a lone wicket at the cost of leaking 63 runs in his nine overs in the first match. Readers must note that a 25-run 40th over bowled by Thakur had turned the tables for the hosts on the day before yesterday. Chahar, who offers almost the same skills on paper, might aid his team in picking an early wicket.
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Much like his counterpart, India captain Shikhar Dhawan also wanted to chase a total in Hamilton tonight. “We would have bowled first as there’s moisture in the wicket. Even in the last game the wicket was seaming for the first 10-15 overs. We got to keep the positive intent and go for the runs,” Dhawan told Spark Sport at the toss.
