India look to wrap up series, New Zealand aim fightback

India are poised for their third T20 International series triumph in five years but would be wary of a strong fightback from the usually plucky New Zealand when the two sides clash in the second game of the threematch series here tomorrowThe comprehensive 53run victory in the series opener at Delhi has put India firmly in the saddle for sweeping to a winning 20 lead at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium here in KandheriThe resounding victory riding on the exhilarating batting exploits of their toporder and in particular openers Shikhar Dhawan and Rohit Sharma was the countrys firstever over the Kiwis in the shortest form of the gameThe 2007 World T20 champions have produced impressive death bowling with Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Jasprit Bumrah leading the pace department while the spinners also pitched in with some excellent bowling in the middle oversConsidering the immense allround strength that the hosts boast of its going to be a Herculean task for the Kane Williamsonled New Zealand to prevent India from surging to a third T20I series victory in eight contests going back to 201213 three of which were drawn encountersThe last game is scheduled at Thiruvananthapuram on November 7The Indian top order batting with superb strokemakers in Dhawan Sharma and Kohli has to be tamed early if New Zealand hope to carry on the fight till the seriesending gameDhawan and Sharma put on a record 158run partnership that went into the 16th over to ensure that India ended up with a plus200 total despite a brief wobble towards the endThe Black Caps new ball attack of Trent Boult and Tim Southee lacked discipline in Delhi Its a bit of a surprise that these two experienced Kiwi bowlers have been ineffective with yorkers at the death unlike the Indian duo of Bumrah and BhuvneshwarAnd the catching too has let the Black Caps down in contrast to some superb outfield efforts by the Men in BlueWe were outplayed in all the areas fielding included which is something we pride ourselves on and something we need to be much better at in Twenty20 cricket Williamson had said after the Delhi loss to Virat Kohliled IndiaKohli has led the team from the front and is himself fast approaching the 2000run landmark in T20IsIf the top batsmen fall cheaply there are others spearheaded by former captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni to come to the home teams rescueIn slow bowling too leggie Yuzvendra Chahal has continued to trouble the Black Caps batsmen in particular captain Williamson and senior pro Ross Taylor who is unable to read the twirl on the ball off the wrist spinners handOnly the lefthanded Tom Latham among the visiting teams batsmen has shown a consistently sound and effective approach against the spin bowlersIndia had clinched backtoback wins in the last two games of the 50over ODI rubber for a 21 verdict in their favourIncidentally this would be the second T20 International to be played at this venue on the outskirts of the city which was the home venue of IPL side Gujarat Lions earlier this year The first one was against Australia in October 2013 won by the home side It has also hosted two ODIs at this stadium in 2013 and 2015 and in both these games India ended up on the losing side against England and South African respectivelyIt became a Test venue last season when India played against EnglandTeams from India Virat Kohli capt Rohit Sharma Jasprit Bumrah Yuzvendra Chahal Shikhar Dhawan Mahendra Singh Dhoni Shreyas Iyer Dinesh Karthik Kuldeep Yadav Bhuvneshwar Kumar Mohammed Siraj Manish Pandey Hardik Pandya Axar Patel KL RahulNew Zealand Kane Williamson capt Todd Astle Trent Boult Tom Bruce Colin de Grandhomme Martin Guptill Matt Henry Tom Latham Henry Nicholls Adam Milne Colin Munro Glenn Phillips Mitchell Santner Ish Sodhi Tim SoutheeMatch commences at 7pm IST