Mitchell Santner has again trusted New Zealand’s bowlers under lights, winning the toss in Ahmedabad and sending India in for the T20 World Cup final. Night-time chasing has been the trend all tournament, yet India arrive buoyed by defending a total in the semi-final – something they had not managed at a global knockout since 2014.
The one selection wrinkle concerned an off-spinner for India’s four left-handers near the top. Cole McConchie removed Quinton de Kock and Ryan Rickelton in the space of four balls two nights ago, but the tall right-arm seamer Jacob Duffy has been preferred here. When the captains swapped the team sheets, Suryakumar Yadav looked up and, amateur lip-readers insist, asked Santner, “no offspinner?”
New Zealand still have a part-time option: Glenn Phillips, unused in the semi, found considerable bite on Indian Test pitches last winter. Santner, though, seems happier banking on extra pace – Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry and Duffy – with his own left-arm spin for control.
India are unchanged. Varun Chakravarthy’s economy in the Super Eight was an eye-watering 11.60, yet the mystery spinner has collected at least one wicket in 21 consecutive outings – the fourth-longest run in T20 internationals. The management value that knack even if the runs do leak.
There was mild chatter about dropping Abhishek Sharma after scores of 5, 0 and 12, but the left-hand opener keeps his spot. The thinking is simple: power-play batting has been India’s edge all tournament and Abhishek, on song, hits the in-field like few others. “Strike rate in the first six overs matters more than an average in a final,” one support-staff member muttered on the boundary during training.
Conditions look dry with only a faint hint of dew; curators have left a healthy covering of grass to keep the surface lively early on. A score near 190 has proved a par-plus this week, something analyst Gaurav Sundararaman noted when chatting to broadcaster Yash Jha yesterday: “Bat first, get 190, and you probably take the cup.”
For New Zealand, Tim Seifert and Finn Allen remain the high-risk, high-reward pair up front, Rachin Ravindra slides back to three, and Daryl Mitchell provides the middle overs glue. Jimmy Neesham, whose yorkers saved the semi-final, will again finish the innings with both bat and ball.
The teams
India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy.
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (capt), Jimmy Neesham, Jacob Duffy, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson.
First ball is at 19:30 local. The ground is already filling. The last time these two met in a world final, the red ball was involved. Tonight, the white ball and coloured kits promise an altogether different script.
