Mighty Indians face tricky Kiwis in series opener

New Zealand have shown tremendous form in the warm up matches while India after a thumping victory over Sri Lanka in the last Test match will be oozing with confidence and would like to maintain the winning momentum when they clash with the Kiwis in the first ODI of the tri-series.

The New Zealand team management have decided to rest couple of their key players, Daniel Vettori and Brendon McCullum, for the tri-series and in their absence Ross Taylor has been given the charge of the side with fast bowler Kyle Mills as his deputy. The team fared exceedingly well in the tour matches by scoring two convincing wins, with the latest being a big win by 185 runs over Sri Lanka A. They have got a talented pool of batsmen with Scott Styris, Martin Guptill and the skipper himself in the ranks. The fast bowling department with the presence of Daryl Tuffey, Kyle Mills and youngster Tim Southee look to be in good shape and Jacob Oram will be filling the all-rounder slot. The major area of concern for the Kiwis on the Sri Lankan pitches will be their spin attack which is very much inexperienced in the absence of Daniel Vettori. The Indians are known to play the spinners well and it will be a stern test for the likes of Jeetan Patel and Nathan McCullum to contain them.

The Indian side under the charismatic leadership of uber cool MS Dhoni will have a fond memory of this ground as they trounced the hosts Sri Lanka here in the final of the Asia Cup to break the 15-year old jinx. Like their opposition for this match, India have also rested master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, elegant southpaw Gautam Gambhir and the turbanator Harbhajan Singh for the tri-series. India possess a lethal batting order with brute ability which have players like Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, who alone are capable of giving nightmares to any bowling attack. Ashish Nehra will spearhead the bowling department and will have a good support in Praveen Kumar and Ishant Sharma. In the absence of Harbhajan Singh, Ravindra Jadeja could lead the spin attack and Yuvraj Singh, Virender Sehwag will provide handy options to MS Dhoni with their useful part time spin bowling.

India lead the head to head battle 40-36 against New Zealand. Nevertheless, a cracking match is in store and India might edge out the Kiwis due to more settled and experienced unit.