Wellington [New Zealand]: India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl against New Zealand in the third T20 International of the five-match series in Wellington on Tuesday.
India entered the contest with a 2-0 series lead after winning the opening two matches against the 2026 T20 World Cup runners-up. The visitors will look to secure an unassailable 3-0 advantage with two matches remaining.
Speaking at the toss, Iyer emphasised the need to adapt quickly to the conditions while continuing to improve certain aspects of the team’s performance.
“We are going to bowl. Certain aspects we definitely need to keep improving. The dimensions and conditions are different, so the quicker we adapt the better for us. A lot of players are pretty mature to understand when they are not starting. Same team for us,” Iyer said.
India retained the same playing XI from the previous match.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner, meanwhile, made three changes to his side, bringing in Matthew Fisher, Kyle Jamieson and Adam Milne in place of Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson and Nathan Smith.
“Looks like another good wicket, some pace and bounce. There is no nice wind. The dimensions are slightly different to where we have come from. We know India are a great side; you can’t let your foot off the gas,” Santner said.
Bowling discipline remains a concern for New Zealand, who conceded 17 extras, including 16 wides and a no-ball, in the series opener. The Black Caps followed that with 10 extras in the second match, including five wides and three no-balls.
India also have bowling concerns to address. In the opening T20I, every Indian bowler conceded more than 10 runs per over, marking the first such instance for the team in the format.
With India aiming to seal the series and New Zealand seeking to keep their hopes alive, the third T20I presents an important contest for both sides.
Playing XIs
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Jacob Duffy, Matthew Fisher.
India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav.
[DD News]