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Team India skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and opted to bowl first in the fourth match of the ongoing India vs New Zealand T20I series, on Wednesday at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam. Notably, Ishan Kishan, who has been in excellent form, has been replaced by pacer Arshdeep Singh as the batter picked up a niggle in the previous India vs New Zealand T20I.
The Men in Blue have pocketed the five-match T20I series as they have already secured a 3-0 unassailable lead. The Suryakumar and co. will look to clinch the fourth match as well and keep their unbeaten run in the series intact against the Kiwis. The Mitchell Santner-led New Zealand, on the other hand, will look to secure their first win in the series. India vs New Zealand playing 11s for the fourth T20I: India playing 11: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah New Zealand playing 11: Tim Seifert(w), Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner(c), Zakary Foulkes, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy. At the toss, Suryakumar Yadav opted to bowl first, citing a good pitch and humid conditions that he expects will favour batting in the second innings. At the toss, Suryakumar Yadav said, "We're going to bowl first. It looks like a good wicket. There was a lot of dew last night and today it's a little humid as well, so we feel that in the second innings the ball will come onto the bat nicely." Suryakumar further said that the focus is on maintaining good habits, learning from the last game, and playing fearlessly to entertain the crowd. He also confirmed that Arshdeep Singh replaces Ishan Kishan, who is out of the playing 11 due to a niggle. The Indian skipper also confirmed that Axar Patel continues to be unavailable due to the finger injury. "I think the important thing is to repeat the good habits we've built over the past year, not just in this series. We want to keep doing the good things we've been doing, learn from the last game, and go out there, enjoy ourselves, play the format the way it's meant to be played, and entertain the people who've come here. It's a beautiful ground and a lovely crowd here. Hopefully the boys are charged up and we have a good, entertaining night. Arshdeep comes in for Ishan Kishan, who picked up a niggle in the last game. Axar Patel still needs a bit more time, so hopefully we'll see him in the next game. The batters will need to take a bit more responsibility, but at the same time not shy away from playing with fearless intent. We've got five good bowling options today, so we'll see how it goes." Abhishek Sharma's 68-run knock in just 20 balls, paired with Suryakumar Yadav's blistering unbeaten 57 off 26 balls, propelled India to a convincing eight-wicket win, chasing down 154 runs in just 10 overs. (ANI)
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