GUWAHATI, Nov 27 � The premier city of the North-east, Guwahati is going to host the 16th One-day International (ODI) match between India and New Zealand tomorrow at the Nehru Stadium.
Considering the weather conditions here, a 50-over match would be possible only if it starts at 8.30 am.
On previous occasions, out of 15 matches seven were of a 50-over affair. Two India-England matches were abaondoned � one on April 9, 2006 due to bad weather and another on November 29, 2008 due to terror attack in Mumbai, three days before. Interestingly, out of the seven 50-over matches, six matches were played in the month of November. Therefore, tomorrow a 50-over may be possible. However, the final decision will be taken tomorrow morning by umpires Nigel Llong, SK Tarapore and match referee Roshan Mahanama.
It will be the third match for New Zealand here. Their first match was against Courtney Walsh-led West Indies on November 1, 1995 in Wills Trophy which they lost by 138 runs. New Zealand�s captain was Ken Ratherford. In reply to West Indies� 306 for six in 50 overs, New Zealand scored 171 for nine. Incidentally, West Indian batsman Carl Hooper cracked the first ODI century (111) on Nehru Stadium pitch in that match.
But New Zealand team, led by Stephen Fleming defeated host India led by Sachin Tendulkar on November 14, 1999 by 48 runs in a regular series. In their third ODI here on November 9, 2003 they went down to Ricky Ponting�s Australia by 44 runs. New Zealand team was led by Fleming again.
Present New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori is visiting the city for the second time as he was also in the 2003 team.
The new-look Team India under Gautam Gambhir will definitely take on New Zealand seriously although the Daniel Vettori�s men will look forward to erase the bitter experience of a 0-4 thrashing by Bangladesh recently. The series will be India�s last outing in the sub-continent before next year�s World Cup.
New Zealand have an experienced line-up with the likes of Scott Styris, Ross Taylor and the skipper himself, while India will look up to their young guns who are raring to go in order to grab a berth in the World Cup squad.
India has rested stars like Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh and in the absence of Sehwag, Murali Vijay will look to add teeth to the opening slot with his skipper. The middle-order will be in the hands of Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and struggling Yuvraj Singh who will definitely try to regain his stature in this series.
Getting another opportunity to prove his worth before the World Cup, Yusuf Pathan will have direct competition from Ravindra Jadeja to grab the all-rounder�s position in the team.
S Sreesanth and Ashish Nehra are likely to share the new ball tomorrow. Nehra has been drafted in, in place of Praveen Kumar. R Vinay Kumar or Munaf Patel may come in as first change.
The Black Caps, on the other hand, will miss the services of Jesse Ryder who pulled out of the series after suffering from a calf injury during the Test series.
Ryder, who was New Zealand�s second best batsman after Brendon McCullum aggregating 274 in the just-concluded three Tests, has been replaced by James Franklin who may not be picked for the playing XI.
McCullum, after a fantastic Test series will look to lead the batting pack. The side�s batting will also depend on Scott Styris while Ross Taylor will look to reinvent his lost form.
Teams (from)
India: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Saurabh Tiwary, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Yusuf Pathan, Sreesanth, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, R Vinay Kumar and Ravichandran Ashwin
New Zealand: Daniel Vettori (captain), Grant Elliott, Martin Guptill, Gareth Hopkins (wk), Jamie How, Brendon McCullum, Nathan McCullum, Andy McKay, Kyle Mills, James Franklin, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Ross Taylor, Daryl Tuffey, Kane Williamson.
Umpires: Nigel Long, SK Tarapore; TV: Sanjay Hazare; Match Referee: Roshan Mahanama.
Hours of play: 8.30 am to 12 noon; 12.40 pm to close of play.
