India vs New Zealand: Virat Kohli and Co on the verge of historic first in 5th T20I against Kiwis

Team India will look to achieve a historic first when they lock horns against New Zealand in the fifth and final match of the T20I series at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui on Sunday. India lead the series 4-0 and will be gunning for a series whitewash while the home side will look to pull one back before the action shifts to 50-over format.

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Virat Kohli and his troops are on the cusp of setting a massive T20I record as a win in the next clash will see them become the first team to inflict a 5-0 series whitewash over a Test-playing nation.

Overall (including non Test-playing nations), New Zealand will become the fifth team to lose five or more T20Is in a series after Cayman Islands (Lost: 6 in ICC WT20 Americas Region Final 2019), Bermuda (Lost: 6 in ICC WT20 Qualifier 2019), Nigeria (Lost: 6 in ICC WT20 Qualifier 2019) and Norway (Lost: 5 in ICC WT20 Europe Region Final in 2019).

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The hosts will be playing for pride in the final match of the series after throwing away games from winning situations in last two matches in Hamilton and Wellington respectively. A day after their dramatic Super Over win in the third T20I, India once again beat New Zealand in a Super Over after both sides finished on level terms in the fourth T20I to lead the series 4-0.

This was the fourth tied match for New Zealand in the last seven months and the Kiwis ended up on the losing side on all of those contests decided by Super Over.

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The Kiwis will pin their hopes on experienced campaigners to step up and ensure they don’t hand India a historic series whitewash. In Kane Williamson’s absence, Colin Munro and Tim Seifert did a great job in the last match, but the likes of Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor will have to come good in the final match of the series.

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