India won the toss and elected to bowl against New Zealand in the third ODI at Seddon Park on Tuesday after a two-hour delay due to rain and a wet outfield.
Leading the five-match series 2-0, India are aiming to secure an unassailable advantage and seal the series with two matches remaining. India have retained their playing XI, while New Zealand have brought in Matt Fisher in place of Blair Tickner.
India have dominated the opening two matches, although rain affected both encounters.
In the first ODI in Auckland, India defeated New Zealand by five wickets after chasing a revised Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) target of 143 in 22.2 overs.
The second ODI in Wellington also ended in India’s favour under the DLS method. The visitors were 113/7 while chasing 135 when rain stopped play, with India four runs ahead of the par score.
A victory in the third match would give India an unassailable 3-0 lead in the series.
New Zealand have made several adjustments in recent days following injury and concussion-related setbacks.
For the third ODI, Matt Fisher has replaced Blair Tickner. Captain Mitchell Santner said the team would assess the conditions before deciding its approach, with four seamers included in the playing XI.
The hosts need a win to keep their hopes of winning the series alive.
The third ODI is Shubman Gill’s final appearance as India’s captain in the series. Several key players, including Gill and KL Rahul, are set to miss the remaining two matches as they prepare for the subsequent two-match Test series.
A victory would give Gill his first away ODI series triumph as India’s captain.
After winning the toss, Gill expressed hope that the weather would improve and allow the teams to play without further interruptions.
India: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh.
New Zealand: Tim Seifert, Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy, Matt Fisher.
