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After a defeat in the last-over thriller, New Zealand will be without the services of their veteran pacer Matt Henry, who had a "tight calf" as he left the field after bowling two overs. Henry will take no further part in the T20I series as his workload is being managed. He will join the squad for the five-ODI series starting on November 4.
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Lockie Ferguson and all-rounder Josh Clarkson are not part of the third T20I either. They will be available for the last two T20Is of the series. While Clarkson is yet to play a game in the series, Ferguson went off the field during the second T20I as well. He had bowled three overs and went for 37 runs.
Kyle Jamieson will be released from the squad following the third T20I on October 27 in Wellington. Jamieson will turn up for Canterbury to play a Ford Trophy match at the Cello Basin Reserve on October 31. Jamieson will play a One-Day match, which will help him prepare for the ODI series.
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For the third T20I, Matt Fisher has been called up as a cover too. After the third T20I, he will return to the New Zealand A squad to go up against India A for their second unofficial Test. Fisher made his T20I debut earlier this year against Bangladesh, where he remained wicketless and conceded 53 runs.
New Zealand head coach Rob Walter is happy to rotate the pacers to manage their workload amid a busy schedule.
“It’s been a competitive start to the T20 series with two close games and plenty more cricket to come,” Walter said.
“We’re very fortunate with the depth in the squad to be able to call upon different players to help manage our pacers' workloads, and to try and ensure they’re best placed to perform for the team for all the cricket coming up."
Who will replace Ferguson and Henry for 3rd T20I vs India?
Jamieson is highly likely to play the third T20I after missing the first two in Christchurch. For the other spot, there may be a toss-up between Adam Milne and Blair Tickner, or Duffy will make his comeback. After Jamieson leaves, Ferguson may replace him. Clarkson may get a chance in the last two T20Is as well, considering he can contribute with the bat as well.
Jamieson does not have a good record against India. From three T20Is, he has three wickets. But he averages 43.33, and his economy rate is unimpressive at 14.44 runs per over.
Tickner doesn't have a good record either. He has three wickets from six T20Is against India, averaging over 60 and conceding runs at nearly 11 and a half runs per over.
It is a similar story for Milne, who has five wickets from 9 T20Is against India. He averages 58.20 and has an economy rate of nearly 10 runs per over.
How have New Zealand pacers performed in the first two T20Is vs India?
Henry was expensive in the series opener as he went for 57 runs in 3.4 overs and remained wicketless. In the second T20I, he did well with the new ball. He bowled a maiden and conceded 11 runs from two overs. He left the field before taking a wicket.
Adam Milne was benched after he went for 43 runs in three overs. His only wicket was captain Shreyas Iyer.
Ferguson was wicketless in the second T20I. In the first T20I, he got to bowl three overs. He conceded 34 runs from three overs. His only wicket was Axar Patel.
Replacing Milne in the second T20I, Duffy conceded 41 runs from 3.5 overs. His only wicket was opener Sanju Samson, who struggled against the new ball.
Nathan Smith has featured in both T20Is. Smith bowled two overs in the series opener and conceded 20 runs. He did not get a wicket. In the second T20I, he took the wicket of dangerous Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the seventh over. He conceded 34 runs from three overs.
Why are New Zealand pacers struggling?
In the first T20I, India chased down 226 with four wickets in hand and two balls to spare. In the second T20I, India chased down the target of 181 with four wickets in hand again and a ball to spare. Skipper Mitchell Santner defended bowlers and pointed how dew is making an impact, especially with an 8 PM start time (local) instead of the regular 7 PM. He says that the toss is playing a crucial role in both games.
"There was less dew tonight than there was the first game, I think, because the wind was up a little bit," Santner said after the second defeat of the series.
"But I think it's going to be a factor throughout the series. I guess with it being so late (8 PM start), we usually start at 7 o'clock. So by the second half, the ball seems to skid on a little bit better. It's definitely a factor, I think, at the toss both teams in both games were looking to bowl first. And I guess two chases, even though tonight was a tight chase, it's still two wins for the chasing team."
Santner will have to work on the team combination ahead of the must-win encounter. If they lose, India will take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.
New Zealand’s updated squad for the rest of the T20I series vs India -
Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Adam Milne, Lockie Ferguson (4th and 5th T20Is), Blair Tickner, Josh Clarkson (4th and 5th T20I), Devon Conway, Kyle Jamieson (3rd T20I only), Jacob Duffy, Matt Fisher (3rd T20I as cover).
India’s squad for 3rd T20I vs New Zealand
Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shreyas Iyer (c), Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav, Prince Yadav, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Kumar Kushagra.
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