New Zealand will be without Blair Tickner for Tuesday’s third ODI against India in Hamilton, and Lockie Ferguson is ruled out of the last two games with a low-grade tear in his right calf, Cricket Times reported. Tickner was cleared of concussion after being hit on the helmet in Wellington but must sit out the ICC’s mandatory seven-day stand-down, so he misses the third and fourth ODIs.
India lead the five-match series 2-0 and can settle it at Seddon Park. New Zealand are missing six regulars, and the attack that has to stop India’s top order is the thinnest it has been all tour.
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Key points
- Lockie Ferguson (calf tear) misses the last two ODIs and Blair Tickner serves a seven-day stand-down
- Kristian Clarke joins New Zealand’s 14 for Hamilton; Matt Henry targets the fourth ODI
- India lead 2-0 and can win the five-match series at Seddon Park on Tuesday 10 November
How thin New Zealand’s attack has become
Kristian Clarke, a bowling all-rounder, has been added for Hamilton to cover Tickner. Matt Henry is still recovering from a low-grade right quadriceps tear and is targeting the fourth ODI, and Kyle Jamieson stays with the one-day squad for that game rather than joining the Test group as first planned, CricTracker reported.
That leaves Mitchell Santner with Jamieson, Jacob Duffy, Matt Fisher, Nathan Smith and Clarke as his seam options. Duffy took 3 for 49 in the Eden Park opener. Fisher came on as Tickner’s concussion replacement in Wellington.
The batting is missing Devon Conway (concussion, out of the series), Rachin Ravindra (shoulder) and Mark Chapman (hamstring). New Zealand’s 14 for Hamilton: Mitchell Santner (captain), Michael Bracewell, Kristian Clarke, Jacob Duffy, Matt Fisher, Kyle Jamieson, Nick Kelly, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert, Nathan Smith, Will Young.
Two rain-hit wins and pitches that seam
Neither game so far has been a full 50 overs a side. India won the first by five wickets under DLS, with Virat Kohli making 74 off 51, and the second in Wellington by four runs, also under DLS. New Zealand were bowled out for 185 at Eden Park.
Both pitches moved. India’s batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said they offered swing, seam movement after the shine went and some awkward bounce, CricTracker reported, citing ESPNcricinfo. New Zealand’s batting coach Luke Ronchi went further about Wellington, saying 200 would have been a big score there: “The bowlers have actually got the upper hand – there’s nothing wrong with that.”
Seddon Park was a different story on 1 November. New Zealand chased 192 with two overs to spare in the fifth T20I there, Tim Seifert making 93 off 50, so the ground is not short of runs when the surface is true.
Gill’s last game in charge before the Test switch
Shubman Gill leads India in the first three ODIs before Shreyas Iyer takes over at Mount Maunganui. Hamilton is also the last game before India split their staff: Kotak said head coach Gautam Gambhir and spin coach Sairaj Bahutule would stay with the ODI side while he and bowling coach Morne Morkel head to Wellington for the Test camp, which opens on 11 November. “It can change, but this is how it will likely be,” Kotak said.
Gurnoor Brar, who took 3 for 44 at Eden Park, and Arshdeep Singh are among the quicks Kotak expects to stay in New Zealand as reserves for the Tests.
What happens next
The third ODI starts at 3pm local time on Tuesday 10 November, 7:30am IST, according to the Wisden match centre. The fourth and fifth are at Mount Maunganui on 13 and 15 November, and the first Test starts on 19 November.
Market watch
- Without Ferguson, Tickner and Henry, New Zealand’s attack has lost most of its pace and experience. That matters most in India’s innings-runs and top-batter lines.
- Both games so far were cut by rain and decided under DLS. Check the Hamilton forecast on the morning before reading anything into totals.
- Kohli’s 74 at Eden Park took him past Sachin Tendulkar’s aggregate in ODI chases, by CricTracker’s count. If India bowl first again, he is the obvious top-batter name.
- A 3-0 lead ends the series as a contest, so dead-rubber rotation at Mount Maunganui becomes likely if India win.
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Pradeep Singh
Pradeep Singh is a cricket betting expert with 17+ years of experience. His work is in The Times of India, Hindustan Dainik, and Dainik Bhaskar, covering cricket betting and gambling news.
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