India's T20 tour of New Zealand finishes in Hamilton. The New Zealand vs India 5th T20I is at Seddon Park on Sunday 1 November, the last of five games before the two sides switch to a five-match ODI series that starts at Eden Park three days later.
We don't yet know whether it will be a decider or a dead rubber. The first four games are in Christchurch (22 and 24 October), Wellington (27 October) and Auckland (30 October). What we do know is that India arrive with a new captain and a lot of young players, and New Zealand have a score to settle from March.
New Zealand Cricket
India CricketWhen does the New Zealand vs India 5th T20I start?
It's a night game, starting at 8pm in Hamilton. In other time zones:
| Where | Local start |
|---|---|
| New Zealand (NZDT) | 8:00pm, Sun 1 Nov |
| India (IST) | 12:30pm, Sun 1 Nov |
| UK (GMT) | 7:00am, Sun 1 Nov |
| Sydney (AEDT) | 6:00pm, Sun 1 Nov |
In Pakistan it's noon, and on the US east coast it's 2am, a few hours after the clocks go back.
Is this a T20 World Cup final rematch?
More or less. India beat New Zealand by 96 runs in the final at Ahmedabad in March to retain the title, the first side to win back-to-back T20 World Cups. Sanju Samson was player of the tournament, and Varun Chakravarthy finished as joint-leading wicket-taker with 14.
Both men are in this squad, and this tour is New Zealand's first chance at a T20 rematch.
Who's leading India, and who isn't here?
Shreyas Iyer is the T20I captain for the tour, with Tilak Varma as his vice-captain. Shubman Gill leads the Test and ODI sides. Suryakumar Yadav and Jasprit Bumrah are not in the T20I squad.
The rest of the 16 are Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Yadav, Prince Yadav, Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy.
Sooryavanshi is the one most Indian fans will want to see. Two wicketkeepers in Samson and Kishan also gives Iyer options at the top of the order, though I suspect Abhishek and Samson start the series as the openers.
What has changed for New Zealand?
Mitchell Santner captains again. The hosts lost Mark Chapman and Zak Foulkes to injury before the series started, and Josh Clarkson and Blair Tickner came in.
What's left is still a strong white-ball group: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips with the bat, Michael Bracewell alongside Santner for spin, and a pace attack with Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson and Adam Milne to choose from. Five games in 11 days also means rotation, so don't be surprised if the XI in Hamilton looks different from the one in Christchurch.
Seddon Park, Hamilton. Photo: JaumeBG, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
India won't be gone from Hamilton long. Seddon Park also hosts the third ODI on 10 November, a day/night game starting at 3pm local time, so several of these players will be back on the same ground nine days later, this time over 50 overs with the series on a fresh scoreboard.
Where can I watch it?
Check your local listings in India, the UK and Australia for the broadcaster. The card below lists the channels we have on record.
DAMITV will stream the New Zealand vs India 5th T20I for free on our cricket streams page, in HD with no sign-up. If you only follow India, the India cricket live stream page collects every match on the tour, including the ODIs that follow. Full fixtures and scorecards are on ESPNcricinfo.
So who wins in Hamilton?
India are world champions and have the deeper T20 squad, even with Suryakumar and Bumrah missing. New Zealand are at home, though, and by the fifth game of a series fatigue and rotation start to matter more than reputation.
I'd lean India. Their spin options, Kuldeep, Axar and Chakravarthy, should get more out of an evening pitch than New Zealand's batters would like, and Iyer has enough firepower in the top six to chase anything. If the series is already settled by then, expect both sides to give fringe players a run, and the result gets a lot harder to call. Either way we'll have it live on the DAMITV cricket hub.
