Toss New Zealand chose to bowl vs India
In McConchie’s absence, New Zealand do have an offpsin option, that of Glenn Phillips, who didn’t bowl in the last match but was a handful on turning tracks in Test cricket when New Zealand whitewashed India in 2024-25.
India continued to put their faith in mysteryspinner Varun Chakravarthy, who went at 11.60 per over in the Super Eight. Eight of his leakiest spells have come in the last two-and-a-half months. However, he has also picked up at least one wicket in his last 21 matches, the fourth-longest such streak.
As expected, Abhishek Sharma kept his place despite a run of low scores. He has scored only one half-century in this World Cup.
India 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Sanju Samson (wk), 3 Ishan Kishan, 4 Tilak Varma, 5 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 6 Hardik Pandya, 7 Shivam Dube, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Arshdeep Singh, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Varun Chakravarthy.
New Zealand 1 Tim Seifert (wk), 2 Finn Allen, 3 Rachin Ravindra, 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Mark Chapman, 6 Daryl Mitchell, 7 Mitchell Santner (capt), 8 Jimmy Neesham, 9 Jacob Duffy, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Lockie Ferguson
