New Zealand vs India Test series 2020 – 2nd Test
2nd Test:
Second test match of test series of two matches between New Zealand and India is going to be played at Hagley Oval, Christchurch.
India Tour of New Zealand History
In the 21st test series between the teams, the host already won the first test and so in the position of at least not losing the series. The home side is on the way to win their 6th series against the opponent and for that, the team just need to save from defeat.
On the soil of New Zealand, India’s record is not much impressive. And the team still need to wait for the third series victory out of 10 series.
Overall, the teams met each other on 59 occasions. India won 21 matches, whereas, new Zealand won only 11 matches, and 26 were resulted in draw. One match was abandoned without toss.
When India visited New Zealand, the teams played 25 tests, and the visitors won only 5 tests. On the other hand, the host won 9 tests. 10 out of remaining 11 were resulted into draw.
The streak of without any win is 5 for the visitors.
Victory brings points:
The contest is between the first rank team and forth rank, though, India will not lose the position, but will surely lose the point, as the team already lost the first test. On the other hand, New Zealand is already in the position of improving team’s position, even, in case of losing the second test. Series victory will bring the team on the second position.
India already lost a chance to increase the points in point table, if the team wants to stop further damage, then the second test victory is mandatory for the team.
Venue Weather:
Weather forecast of the Christchurch shows the weather would be slightly windy and mostly cloudy for the match. But no rain would be expected except morning of the day one, as the precipitation percentage would be very low. The temperature would be nearly 20 degree Celsius. The wind would be decreased as the match will progress day by day.
Toss and Pitch:
It’s toss win field first ground. Teams preferred to field first after winning the toss, which happened in all the 6 played match at the venue. And the teams won thrice after selecting the first fielding and lost twice. Overall, thrice the teams, won the toss, won the matches and lost twice.
Particularly, for New Zealand, the team won the toss thrice out of 6 times, and the team won twice, but never lost, yet.
Moreover, the host never lost a match after having field first.
The first batting team won the matches twice, whereas, the teams, who batted second, won the matches thrice.
The only defended total, actually a huge one, was 659, and the highest successful chase was 201 runs on the venue in 2016. On the ground, the teams chased down the target 4 times and lost only once. Interestingly, there were no test victory with an inning.
The first inning lowest total was 133, and the highest total was 441 runs in 2014. For the second inning, the lowest total was 104, whereas, highest was 505 run. The lowest total for the third inning was 171 runs, and highest was 585. And forth innings lowest total was 236 (completed inning), and highest was 256.
Batting average of the first inning at the ground is 28.63, 26.31 for the second inning, 38.16 for the third inning and 40.76 for the forth inning.
History Between the Teams:
The teams never faced each other on the venue, and the upcoming test will be the maiden one.
Test History at Venue:
The home side has excellent record at the venue, and won 4 matches out of 6 encounters and lost just once, which was in 2016.
Tentative XI for both the Teams:
New Zealand:
Fast bowlers would get benefits due to expected wind as per forecast, so, home side would prefer to have fast bowlers.
New Zealand Eleven: T. Latham, T. Blundell, K. Williamson, R. Taylor, H. Nicholls, B. Watling, C. de Grandhomme, T. Southee, N. Wagner, T. Boult, K. Jamieson
India:
The visitors would have one forced change, as I. Sharma got injury and U. Yadav would replace him.
India Eleven: P. Shaw, M. Agarwal, C. Pujara, V. Kohli, A. Rahane, H. Vihari, R. Pant / W. Saha, R. Ashwin / R. Jadeja, M. Shami, U. Yadav, J. Bumrah
