Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of the warm-up match between India and New Zealand.
Ross Taylor: "It felt a bit rusty over the last of couple of days. Probably getting over jet lag and that is why the warm ups are being played. If the ball does swing like that, the bowlers will be licking their lips. Few guys had a hit. The bowlers as well."
Virat Kohli: "The wicket didn't have enough in the second innings. In a tournament like the World Cup, the lower order has to score at times if the top-order gets out quickly. Hardik batted well, MS absorbed the pressure well and Jadeja did well too. The fielders are going to have a crucial role. We have to be precise in every department."
◙ GONE. Taylor perishes trying to go for the winning shot. Jadeja with the breakthrough. Henry Nicholls hits the winning run and it's a convincing six-wicket win for the Kiwis. Jadeja's 54 and Bumrah's parsimonious spell with two successive maidens was the only silver lining for the Virat Kohli-led team. They play Bangladesh in their next warm-up match.
◙ Taylor continues to flay the bowlers. Chahal being taken for two boundaries in the 32nd. New Zealand needs 15 runs to win. Nicholls and Taylor have collected six off the last two overs. New Zealand needs 9 runs in 90 balls.
◙ Runs continue to come for New Zealand, which has reached 149/2 after 29 overs. Jadeja and Kuldeep are bowling in tandem and have been taken for runs by both Taylor and Williamson. New Zealand needs 31 runs. GONE! Finally, a breakthrough for India. Chahal gets Williamson out for 67. Henry Nicholls new man in. NZ 151/3 after 30 overs.
◙ Williamson shifting gears, moves to 49 with a six off Chahal. And brings up his 50 with a single. Nine off the over. DROPPED! Karthik drops Taylor behind the stumps. Jadeja into the attack. Only two coming off it. Taylor brings up his fifty as well with a boundary to sweeper cover; the second of the over. Chahal at the receiving end this time. NZ 134/2 after 27 overs.
◙ Williamson takes New Zealand past 100 with a lofted hit over extra cover for four. And another one: scythes this one in the gap between extra cover and mid-off for four more. 11 from the over.
◙ Kuldeep gives away just three in the 20th over. New Zealand into the nineties. Chahal to continue. Taylor carves one through the covers for four... Kiwis in cruise control mode at the moment. Seven runs off it. NZ 97/2 after 21 overs.
◙ Kuldeep to bowl his first over. He goes short and wide, and Williamson collects four. 18 gone, and the two batsmen are inching closer to a 50-run stand. Kuldeep concedes eight. Chahal follows it up with a four-run over. The single off the last ball brings up the fifty partnership between the two. NZ 87/2 after 19 overs.
◙ Shami into his fourth over. Four off the over. Drinks on the field! New Zealand needs 114 runs to win. Pandya back into the attack and is driven down the ground for four by Williamson. Six from it. Chahal brought into the attack. Good start: only three off it. NZ 75/2 after 16 overs.
◙ Pandya to continue. End of the 12th over. Three runs off it in the end. Shami continues. Taylor brings up the team 50 with a single. Just one off it. Pandya to bowl his third. Taylor cuts one away for four. He ends the over with an equally fierce square cut. 12 off the over. NZ 62/2 after 12 overs.
◙ Pandya into the attack. GONE! Guptill holes out to KL Rahul, who takes a fine catch to get rid of the Kiwi opener. Ross Taylor in at 4. Six runs and a wicket off it. Shami, too, goes for six. NZ 46/2 after 11 overs.
◙ Bhuvi to continue. Not exactly the most sweetly timed shot from Guptill, but he'll get four for it. Seven more coming off the rest of the over. Bumrah, from the other end, continues to roll out maidens; his second consecutive one! Shami brought into the attack. Williamson pulls a short ball for four. Good comeback from Shami. Five from it. NZ 34/1 after 9 overs.
◙ Bumrah to continue. Just a single off the second ball. Bumrah so far: 2-0-2-1. Bhuvi to continue. Tight stuff from Bhuvi: another one-run over. Bumrah follows it up with a maiden. NZ 18/1 after 6 overs.
◙ Guptill takes a double to get off the mark. Munro dances down the track and blasts one down the ground for four. Seven off the over. Bumrah to share the new ball. Bumrah, you beauty! Bowls a brute yorker to trap Munro in front. NZ 8/1 . Kane Williamson in at 3. Excellent first over from Bumrah. Just one run and a wicket. Bhuvi to continue. Guptill gets a boundary. Eight off the over. NZ 16/1 after 3 overs.
The players and the umpires make their way out to the middle. Martin Guptill and Colin Munro to start proceedings for New Zealand. Bhuvneshwar Kumar to start with the new ball.
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Boult picks up a fourth as Kuldeep is caught and bowled. India reach 179 riding on Ravindra Jadeja's 54. New Zealand needs 180 to win. We will be back with the run chase soon.
◙ Boult is back into the attack. Jaddu hares back for the second run and brings up his fifty! And another two is followed by a listless bouncer from Boult. India collects 5 wides. 12 off the over. GONE! Jaddu falls after scoring a 50 and it's Martin Guptill, who has pulled off a blinder at backward point. Mohammed Shami in at 10. Terrific stuff from Fergusson; just one run and a wicket. IND 178/9 after 39 overs.
◙ Ferguson to continue. Kuldeep is struck on the elbow and is in considerable pain. Team physio Patrick Farhat rushes to the middle. He's good to go, is Kuldeep. And Ferguson bowls yet another bouncer and Kuldeep keeps it down. Next ball, the southpaw clears the front foot and has a go at it: gets four runs. Five runs from the over. IND 165/8 after 35 overs.
◙ Ferguson is back into the attack. Kuldeep brings up the team 150 with a single. Sodhi to continue. Good over: just two off it. Ferguson into his sixth over. Two in the over. Sodhi to bowl his third. Kuldeep gets two back-to-back braces. IND 160/8 after 36 overs.
◙ Jadeja flexing his muscles against fellow CSK spinner Santner: 4,4,6 and Jaddu into the 30s. 15 off the over. Neesham's been dispatched for a boundary by Jadeja. Seven off it in the end. Ish Sodhi brought into the attack. SHOT! Kuldeep sweeps one away for his first boundary of the match. Now, Jadeja takes the aerial route, wrapping up the over with a maximum. IND 149/8 after 32 overs.
◙ Neesham back into the attack. Just one off the over. Santner to continue. One run off the first ball followed by five dots. Bhuvi and Jaddu in no hurry, rightly so. Just as I say that, Neesham gives room and Jaddu cuts one away for four. Bhuvi, however, holes out to Ross Taylor and Neesham has his third wicket. IND 115/8 after 28.4 overs. Kuldeep in at 9.
◙ Jadeja brings up the team 100 with a boundary square off the wicket. Neesham's three overs have gone for just 14 with two wickets. Southee to continue. Pulled away for four by Jadeja. Four off that over. First sight of spin today; Mitchell Santner into the attack. Two off his first over. IND 107/7 after 26 overs.
◙ de Grandhomme concedes four leg-byes, a rare loose ball from him. Four dots followed by a single. Dhoni taking his time. Neesham to continue... strays on Dhoni's pads who trickles it to fine leg for four. Easy pickings. Five runs off the over. Southee is back into the attack. Dhoni perishes! Seventh wicket falls as M.S. hits one straight to Neesham at short mid-wicket. Bhuvi in at 8. 5 wides and India inches closer to 100. IND 96/7 after 23 overs.
◙ Grandhomme in the middle of an exceptional spell: into his fifth over now. Dhoni takes a brace to end the over. Four off it. James Neesham into the attack. He strikes straightaway; Hardik edges one to the keeper and India have lost their fifth wicket. IND 77/5 after 19.1 overs. Dinesh Karthik joins Dhoni. Karthik hits a first ball four before holing out to the man at square leg. Jadeja is the new batsman. What a first over this is turning out to be! IND 81/6 after 20 overs.
◙ Ferguson tests Dhoni with a bouncer. He's beaten for pace there, is MS, and there's no contact there but the ball flies over the keeper's head for four byes! Six off the over. de Grandhomme into his fourth. Just one run coming off it. Ferguson to bowl his fourth. India crawling at the moment. Outside edge and it races away for four... would have been a simple chance for a conventional slip fielder. Hardik follows it up with a stylish whip off the backfoot for four. Make that three. 13 off that over. IND 73/4 after 18 overs.
◙ de Grandhomme to continue. Dhoni takes a single and gets off strike. Hardik follows it up with a quick double. Three off it. Ferguson concedes only two in his second over. Last 5 overs, India have scored only 14 for the loss of one wicket. de Grandhomme continues. Dhoni is happy to shoulder arms: only one run in the over. IND 53/4 after 15 overs.
◙ Boult's figures so far: 5-1-20-3. Colin de Grandhomme introduced into the attack. He gets the big fish out: Kohli is castled by an inswinger. M.S. Dhoni has joined Hardik Pandya. He gets off the mark with a brace. IND 41/4 after 11 overs. Lockie Ferguson is welcomed into the attack with a well-timed cover drive by Hardik. Six of the over.
◙ Southee into his fourth over. Just one run off it. Both seamers getting some prodigious movement off the pitch and in the air. Kohli, in the meantime, continues to deal in boundaries: slices one through the covers for four. Five off the over. Hardik greets Southee with a cover drive for four. Follows it up with five dots. IND 38/3 after 9 overs.
In other news, Australia are 44/1 after 9 overs. Head over here for live updates | ENG vs AUS World Cup warm-up match
◙ Southee to continue. Rahul has been struck on the pads by an inswinger. New Zealand review, again. Replays show the ball missing the stumps by a big margin. Rahul survives. A brace to end the over. Boult to continue. Rahul shows his class with a glorious strike to sweeper cover for four. Timber! Boult strikes for the third time as KL Rahul plays on. IND 24/3 after 5.3 overs. Hardik Pandya joins Kohli. He gets off the mark with a boundary.
Meanwhile, some good news coming in from England:
◙ SHOT! Kohli dances down the track and caresses it through extra cover for four. Six off the over. Trent Boult to continue, and there's been an appeal for a caught behind. Given Not Out. New Zealand reviews. Dhawan the man in question. GONE! Dhawan departs, and India are in trouble. KL Rahul walks out at 4. Rahul's off the mark with a single. A signature cover drive from Kohli earns him four more. Seven off the over. IND 17/2 after 4 overs.
◙ Rohit gets off the mark with a single. India's campaign is underway. Dhawan, too, opens his account with a quick single. A dot to end the over. IND 3/0 after 1 over. Trent Boult to share the new ball. GONE! Rohit has been adjudged lbw but he has reviewed it after a long chat with Dhawan. It's umpire's call. Rohit departs for two and an excellent in-swinger from Boult gets the Kiwis their first wicket. Virat Kohli in at 3. Three slips for Dhawan. Just one run of the over and a wicket.
Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan to open for India, Tim Southee with the new ball.
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TOSS UPDATE: Virat Kohli has won the toss and India will bat first.
Kedar Jadhav and Vijay Shankar won't be featuring in today's contest.
PITCH REPORT: "There's plenty of grass on the pitch; and it's green grass. These are bowler friendly conditions at Oval," reckons Shaun Pollock.
Kohli: "It looks like a pitch with some grass on it and you want to put yourself in tough situations in warm-up games. The warm up games give you opportunity for match practice, which is the best kind of practice. Even if you're content getting to fifty, and walk off, then that's good. Vijay got hit in the nets yesterday, so he won't be playing, Kedar isn't playing either. We're playing with 13."
Williamson: "The surface will be a bit demanding for the top order but that's what its all about, getting in some match practice and getting into the main competition. We'll be using 13 as well, in all different roles. Matt Henry and Tom Latham aren't playing today."
Right then, the crowd's slowly building up at The Oval!
As we wait for the toss, dig into our in-depth coverage to stay abreast with the latest from the World Cup in England.
◙ From Jason Holder to Aaron Finch, each captain comes into this World Cup with different objectives and different pressures to live up to| World Cup: 10 captains, one crown, game on
◙ Team India skipper Virat Kohli has hailed England all-rounder Jofra Archer's performances in the lead up to the World Cup, labeling him the “X factor” for the host side in the big ticket event| Jofra Archer will be England's X-factor
◙ Vijay Shankar suffered an injury scare after being hit on the forearm, forcing him to leave India’s training session midway at The Oval on Friday. While we wait to hear from the Indian team on Vijay's fitness, here's our reporter Aashin Prasad's profile on the dedicated, unassuming cricketer from Madipakkam, Chennai| World Cup: The making of Vijay Shankar
◙ Sportstar travelled to Ranchi, the 2011 World Cup-winning captain's home, to learn what made Dhoni the world-beater he is today | World Cup 2019, meet Team India: Dhoni, through the eyes of family, teachers, friends
◙ As Hardik gears up for his maiden World Cup sojourn in England, his friends and well-wishers are confident of his success| World Cup 2019: Meet Hardik Pandya, Team India's emotionally-charged all-rounder
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TEAM PREVIEW:World Cup: Number 4 the focus as India faces New Zealand in warm-up
Armed with pedigree, personnel and form, favourite India will look to hit the ground running when it faces New Zealand in its opening warm-up game of the World Cup here Saturday.
However, with India yet to clear the haze of confusion over the No.4 position, it will be much more than a ritual of allowing one top-order batsman after another -- behemoths in their own right -- a hit in the middle.
The outing at the Kennigton Oval will go beyond experimenting with its highly skilled bowling attack, and quite a bit of focus will be on K L Rahul and Vijay Shankar, contenders for the No.4 slot.
Dubbed the most challenging World Cup ever owing to a format that is a throwback to the 1992 edition, Virat Kohli’s team still arrived at the United Kingdom confident of adding to its two titles in the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) showpiece event.
India won the tournament in 1983 and 2011.
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Kohli’s men, second behind England in the one-day international rankings, will start the tournament among the favourite alongside the host nation and defending champion Australia.
It begins its campaign in tournament proper against South Africa in Southampton on June 5, but India will get its first feel of the mega event in the iconic British capital.
While the arch lights will be firmly trained on its talismanic skipper, the number one batsman in 50-over as well as Test cricket, India, and its opponent, would also keenly watch its fancied pace attack that is a mix of speed and guile.
In Rohit Sharma and Shikhar Dhawan as openers followed by Virat Kohli, India has one of the finest and potent top three in the world. Veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni, all-rounder Kedar Jadhav and the big-hitting Hardik Pandya provide depth to the line-up.
Opponents will observe the ability of India’s seamers to exploit the conditions, which could be the most important factor going ahead.
Jasprit Bumrah, the top-ranked ODI bowler in the world, leads the pace battery alongside Mohammed Shami, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Hardik.
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Wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Yuzvendra Chahal add variety to India’s attack, and Kohli sees them playing an influential role in the coming weeks.
The seasoned Ross Taylor, one of the finest limited overs batsmen in recent years, had said it was good that New Zealand were playing India in the practice game. The reverse also holds true for India, as New Zealand offers them the kind of challenge that could make Kohli’s team battle-hardened.
Kohli has expressed confidence in his side’s ability to live up to the billing, while his counterpart Kane Williamson also expressed how pleased he was to have the squad back together, with New Zealand having last played an ODI on February 19 against Bangladesh.
“It’s been great get together for the last few days. We’ve not played together for a couple of months but we’re not the only ones in that boat. The guys are excited to be back in camp which is really refreshing, and we’re looking forward to the challenges that we have got coming up,” Williamson had said at the Captain’s meet.
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