Streak broken, New Zealand hope to prevent rare overseas ODI series win for India

Just as the ODI format is, this series is sandwiched between the T20Is and the Tests. The former had no competition for attention even though injuries did cripple New Zealand. The latter is taking away from the ODI series to an extent that what should be an exciting finale to see if India can consign New Zealand to their first series defeat at home in seven years is being contested by practically the hosts' A team.

Thanks to injuries and some Test players leaving early for their respective Test camps, 32 players have already played in this series. New Zealand have never used in a series as many players as they have done in this one: 18. The record for most players used in a series by any team stands at 21.

The weather should hold up for Sunday, and give ODI cricket one last hurrah before we move onto the real deal on bilateral tours, Test cricket. Henry and Jamieson did enough to whet appetites for the two-Test series through their spells in the first match at Bay Oval.

Form guide

New Zealand: WLLLW(last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
India: LWWLW

Through all the injuries and Test preparation, an interesting experiment might be afoot in the New Zealand ODI line-up: what if a dynamic batter can be thrown in the middle order that has Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips? Finn Allen showed promise in the first ODI innings where he did not open: 41 off 30 balls. If Tim Seifert, his T20I opening partner, can cement his place at the top, New Zealand could possibly look at replacing Tom Latham with Allen.

It is pretty certain that, along with Rohit Sharma, this is the last time Virat Kohli will be playing international cricket in these shores. He might have already played the innings of the series in setting up India's win in the first match, but has scored 7 and 0 since then. A full house will turn up expecting a fitting farewell. Also for Rohit, who is yet to score a century in New Zealand.

New Zealand will have further changes to their XI with Henry and Jamieson moving to the Test camp. One of those spots should go to Jacob Duffy, with Blair Tickner (if recovered from concussion) and the uncapped Brett Randell competing for the other slot. Josh Clarkson could replace Kristian Clarke by virtue of being an allrounder. Mitch Hay and Dean Foxcroft might be in competition for a batting slot.

New Zealand (probable): 1 Will Young, 2 Tim Seifert (wk), 3 Nick Kelly, 4 Dean Foxcroft/Mitch Hay, 5 Finn Allen, 6 Michael Bracewell, 7 Mitchell Santner (capt), 8 Kristian Clarke/Josh Clarkson, 9 Matt Fisher, 10 Jacob Duffy, 11 Blair Tickner/Brett Randell

Kuldeep Yadav had a disappointing outing in his first match of the tour as the New Zealand batters targeted him in the middle overs. This could make way for Mohammed Siraj to play his first match of the tour, which could serve as a test of his form going into the Tests.

India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer (capt), 5 Ishan Kishan (wk), 6 Naman Dhir, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Auqib Nabi, 9 Mohammed Siraj/Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Gurnoor Brar, 11 Arshdeep Singh

Friday was the first successful defence of a total in the last five day-night ODIs at Bay Oval. The way India were bundled for 89 might suggest a pitch that does plenty under the lights, but it also did its share with the new balls in the afternoon. The reality might be somewhere in between. The weather forecast suggests no real threat to the game, but if that were to change, it would make for an interesting decision at the toss.

Stats and trivia