India vs New Zealand 1st T20 Live Streaming Scores | 08-09-2012

India vs New Zealand 1st T20 Match Preview

After a thumping victory in the test series, the men in blue are ready to take on the Kiwis in the 2 match T20 series. The first match of the series will be played at Indira Priyadarshini Stadium, Vishakhapatnam.

The series will see the comeback of two brilliant Indian cricketers, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh. The former has recovered completely from cancer and is ready to be back in the cricket field with a bang, while, the latter has made his way into the team through some decent performances in county cricket.

However, with Ashwin in the team, it would not be easy for Harbhajan to find a place in the XI. There are so many part time off spinners in the Indian team, so, the chances are very little that MS Dhoni would opt to go with two specialist off spinners. Ashwin has performed with some authority in the test series. So, he would be the first choice spinner for MS Dhoni in the T20 series.

As far as Yuvraj is concerned, this man has gone through a lot in the last few months. But, he has come out of it like a champion. He showed tremendous attitude while he was going through chemotherapy. Even after coming back to India, the way he talked in his interviews, he looked a lot matured and determined. But, it would not be that easy for him to find the form straight away. He has been out of cricket since the last 10 months. His body has weakened due to chemotherapy. So, it would be tough for him to maintain his stamina under the hot and humid conditions at Vishakhapatnam.

Rohit Sharma has retained his place in the T20 squad which is quite surprising. He was expected to be dropped from the T20 squad after his disastrous performance in the ODI series against Sri Lanka recently. One of the interesting inclusions in the T20 squad is Piyush Chawla. This man hasn’t done that well in the domestic circuit this season, but, his performance for Kings XI Punjab in the IPL might have prompted the selectors to include him in the side.

As far as New Zealand is concerned, Daniel Vettori is back in the side after getting rid of the injury. New Zealand missed him a lot in the test series. He is a very good T20 bowler and bowls with a teasing line and length. He would prove to be quite handy for the Kiwis in the T20 series.

But, when you go through the New Zealand squad, you feel that there is not enough firepower in the New Zealand middle order. Apart from Ross Taylor, all the other middle order batsmen in the squad are not known for his big hitting. Jacob Oram has played well in the Sri Lanka Premier League (SLPL) recently and the captain would be looking for a decent performance from him.

The pitch at Vishakhapatnam is again expected to be a slow, sluggish one. So, the Kiwis would have to work hard to negotiate the spinners. However, it’s a 20 over format. So, the ball wouldn’t grip that much as it had gripped in the test matches. On the whole, we are all set for a very interesting T20 series.

Recent Results:

India: (Won Lost Won)

• 7th August 2012 – vs Sri Lanka- won by 39 runs
• 30th March 2012 – vs South Africa- lost by 11 runs(D/L Method)
• 3rd February 2012 – vs Australia- won by 8 wickets

New Zealand: (Lost Lost Lost)

• 1st July 2012 – vs West Indies- lost by 61 runs
• 30th June 2012 – vs West Indies- lost by 56 runs
• 22nd February 2012 – vs South Africa- lost by 3 runs

Probable XIs:

India: Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma / M Tiwary, MS Dhoni( c&wk), Irfan Pathan, H Singh, R Ashwin, Z Khan/ A Dinda/ L Balaji

New Zealand: B McCullum(wk), R Taylor(c), R Nicol, M Guptill, K Williamson, J Franklin, D Bracewell, J Oram, D Vettori, T Southee, A Milne/ N McCullum

Danger Men:

Virat Kohli: Mr. Unstoppable in all formats of cricket, test, odi or T20 he is in the form for all cricket. He is at peak of his career. He is a dangerous hard hitter batsman when playing for 20 hours in mind. He can blast New Zealand in Twenty20 Series.

B McCullum: The Kiwi dynamo will forever be remembered as the Knight Rider, who inaugurated the IPL with a breathtaking you blink-you miss 158. He has the uncanny capacity of muscling the ball over both sides of the wicket with little difficulty.

Pitch and conditions: Rain chances are there but cricket lovers across the world who is waiting for this match curiously just to watch Yuvraj Singh in action after world cup 2011. The pitch at the Indira Priyadarshini stadium in Vizag will have plenty of runs in store for the willow wielders.

Prediction: India will thrash New Zealand in 1st of 2 matches series 2012.