1 week ago
10
ARTICLE AD BOX
ND vs NZ 1st T20 VCA Stadium Jamtha Pitch Report: New Zealand are riding high on confidence (PTI Photo)
IND vs NZ 1st T20 VCA Stadium Nagpur Pitch Report: Skipper Suryakumar Yadav would want the attacking batter in him to front up and bolster his leadership against New Zealand when the five-match T20I series gets underway here on Wednesday, serving as a final dress rehearsal for India’s World Cup title defence in less than three weeks’ time. Since Suryakumar took over as India’s T20 skipper in 2024, the results have been stunningly good with a winning percentage of more than 72 per cent. It papered over the skipper’s woeful form with the willow for quite a while but not anymore.
The Indian T20 outfit has been on autopilot mode during the last two years with an odd defeat here and there being small blemishes for a crack team made up of top quality IPL performers knowing their roles to the ‘T’. However, the pressure of playing at home amid expectations that India become the first ever team to defend its title will weigh heavily on Suryakumar’s mind going into the New Zealand series. New Zealand, in the past one year, has achieved many firsts, including a Test series whitewash and a first ever bilateral ODI series win in India.
VCA Stadium, Nagpur Pitch Report
The red soil in the pitch at the VCA stadium is normally conducive to bounce and pace at the start. It means that the pacers could be in the game during the powerplay. This a T20I and so batter won’t really care to negotiate that phase the way they would in an ODI or Tests, making the powerplay of the team that bats first in particular quite an interesting passage. The average first-innings score at this venue has usually ranged between 160 and 175 runs, which is regarded as a competitive total.
Nagpur weather forecast
According to the Accuweather app, the temperature for Sunday will be 23 degrees centigrade in the morning and the conditions are expected to be sunny. The temperature rises a bit to 27 degrees later in the afternoon and then plummets to 14 degrees in the evening. The conditions are expected to be pretty clear and conducive to cricket.
English (US) ·