India will look to avoid a whitewash when they take on hosts New Zealand in the third and final One-day International (ODI) of the three-match series at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Tuesday. The ODI series has seen a complete role reversal with India being dished out what they had done to New Zealand in the five-match T20I series. New Zealand, ravaged by injuries to their squad, will be looking to return the favour and register a rare clean sweep over Virat Kohli's team.
The New Zealand team has been struck down by injuries to their squad, so much so that assistant coach Luke Ronchi had to take the field during the second ODI at Eden Park, Auckland after Tim Southee had left the field after bowling his quota of 10 overs.
Though there was some good news for the hosts ahead of the final ODI with captain Kane Williamson set to return to the playing XI after missing the opening two matches. Leg-spinner Ish Sodhi and pacer Blair Tickner have also been added to the squad ahead of the final ODI.
Coach Shane Jurgensen confirmed that Williamson came through training well and is on track to play in Tuesday's third ODI. Jurgensen said that they will have one final look at Williamson on the morning of the match.
"He had a full workout and he is on track for tomorrow. He is looking good to be ready to play, just have one final look at him in the morning and make sure that nothing happens overnight. So, all on track to be playing tomorrow," said Jurgensen in a video posted on the Black Caps official Twitter handle.
India, on the other hand, will be looking to quickly forget their disappointment from the first two matches. The bowling was found wanting in the opening ODI in Hamilton as New Zealand managed to chase the 348-run target with 11 balls to spare.
In the second match, India's famed batting line-up failed to rise to the occasion and kept completely under wraps by a disciplined New Zealand outfit. However, there were some bright performances for India with the bat.
Shreyas Iyer continued his good form, adding to his century in the first ODI, by scoring a gritty 52 in the second. Ravindra Jadeja nearly pulled off the impossible with a fine batting display, scoring a 73-ball 55 to take India tantalisingly close to the target, which at one time in the match had looked insurmountable.
But the surprise package was Navdeep Saini, who smashed 45 off 49 balls.
Virat Kohli registered a rare failure while in-form KL Rahul too fell cheaply and both will be gunning to right the wrongs and make a strong statement ahead of the two-match Test series, beginning on February 21.
SQUADS:
India: Prithvi Shaw, Mayank Agarwal, Virat Kohli (capt), Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Manish Pandey, Mohammed Shami, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Shivam Dube.
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Henry Nicholls, Kane Williamson (capt), Ross Taylor, Tom Blundell, Tom Latham (wk), James Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mark Chapman, Tim Southee, Kyle Jamieson, Hamish Bennett, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Scott Kuggeleijn.
Match starts at 7.30am IST.