New Zealand v India Third T20I: Prediction & Best Bets

New Zealand and India square off in the third and final T20I of the series tomorrow morning at McLean Park, Napier. After the first match of the series was washed out without a ball being bowled, India thrashed New Zealand by 65 runs on Sunday to take a 1-0 lead in the series. Cricket punter Lwanele Poswayo has you covered with a prediction & the best bets as the hosts look to salvage the series.

India

India are great value for this match at 2.00, especially after their Suryakumar Yadav-inspired victory in the second T20I on Sunday. Despite missing a few key players, Hardik Pandya’s side were fantastic in their 65-run victory and will be looking to win the series tomorrow.

The hosts on the other hand are in poor form, losing 3 of their last 4 T20Is, including a T20 World Cup semi-final defeat to Pakistan. Their fantastic record at home is probably why they are favourites for this one but I’m backing the young and talented Indian side to win this one.

Prediction: India to win

Suggested Bet: India to win at 2.00

Suryakumar Yadav

“SKY” is in the form of his life. On Sunday, he scored his second T20I century of the year to go alongside his 117 from 55 balls at Trent Bridge against England in July. He has scored 1171 runs at an average of 47.95 and a strike-rate of 188.37 in T20Is this year. The fact that he will be coming in at number 3 makes him the obvious choice to be India’s top batsman.

Suggested Bet: Suryakumar Yadav to be India top batsman at 3.50

Alternative Bet: Suryakumar Yadav to score 50+ runs at 3.40

Tim Southee

Tim Southee took his second hat-trick in T20Is on Sunday when he dismissed Hardik Pandya, Deepak Hooda and Washington Sundar in his fantastic final over of the innings which went for only five runs. Southee is also the leading wicket-taker at McLean Park in T20Is (five wickets at 18.60) and I’d bet on him to take over 1.5 wickets in this game.

Suggested Bet: Tim Southee to take over 1.5 wickets at 2.50

Most Sixes

India hit 9 sixes compared to New Zealand’s 4 in the previous match. The visitors have conceded the most match sixes in just one of their last seven T20Is and with players like Yadav, Pant and Pandya in their side, I’m backing them to clear the ropes on more occasions than the Black Caps.

Suggested Bet: India to hit the most sixes at 2.00