India vs New Zealand: Toss Won, Bowling First at Wellington

Wellington, October 27: The third encounter in the five-match T20 series between India and New Zealand has begun at Henry Stadium. Shreyas Iyer, leading India, won the toss and decided to bowl first.

Iyer explained the decision after the toss. He said the bowling side would take the field, that some areas of the game needed work, and that the team had to adjust to conditions quickly to succeed. He reiterated that there were no changes in the Indian lineup.

India's two previous wins both came while chasing a target. That pattern led Iyer to choose bowling again. Ishan Kishan is missing from the playing eleven because of an injury. In his place, Vaibhav Suryavanshi will bat at number three. He did not get runs in the last game and will hope to use this opportunity well.

Mitchell Santner, New Zealand's captain, said the wicket looked good and offered pace and bounce. He added that there was no breeze, which was positive for the teams. He also observed that the field size was different from what they had come from, and called India a great team. New Zealand have made three changes to their side. Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson and Nathan Smith have been dropped, while Matthew Fisher, Kyle Jamieson and Adam Milne have come in.

India are ahead 2-0 in the series after winning the opening two matches. They will aim to win this game and take an unbeatable 3-0 lead.

India Playing XI: Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Shreyas Iyer (captain), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav.

New Zealand Playing XI: Tim Seifert (wicketkeeper), Finn Allen, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (captain), Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Jacob Duffy, Matthew Fisher.