India vs New Zealand Prediction & Match Preview – 4th T20I, Visakhapatnam

India have played fearless, high-tempo cricket under Gautam Gambhir and have won all three matches in the series. Abhishek Sharma has been the biggest talking point: he has 1267 runs in 36 T20Is and added 84 off 35 balls in Nagpur and 68 off 20 in Guwahati. Opening partner Sanju Samson has managed only 16 runs in three innings. Suryakumar Yadav has found his form again with 171 runs in three matches, and Ishan Kishan has made 113 in two games, including 76 off 32 in Raipur.

The middle order of Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh and Hardik Pandya has offered useful cameos. India have rotated their bowlers with the T20 World Cup in mind: Pandya has four wickets, Jasprit Bumrah, Dube and Varun Chakravarthy three each, and Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi two each.

New Zealand are finding the shortest format a hard transition after winning the ODI series, and with three defeats in the five-match series the last two games are tune-ups before the T20 World Cup in February. Glenn Phillips has 145 runs, Mitchell Santner 94 and Mark Chapman 81. Daryl Mitchell scored 352 in the ODIs but has only 60 in three T20I innings. Jacob Duffy has three wickets, Ish Sodhi three, and Matt Henry and Kyle Jamieson two each.

Probable playing XI

Pitch report

The Visakhapatnam surface generally favours batters, especially early in an innings, with flat, even bounce that has produced many high scores in limited-overs games. As the game goes on it slows and grips a little, bringing spinners into play. Seamers get limited help, so cutters and slower balls are effective, and dew can help the chasing side.

Weather

Around 7:00 pm local time on 28 January, Visakhapatnam is expected to be pleasant and dry at roughly 22 to 24°C, with clear to partly cloudy skies, moderate humidity and very little chance of rain.

Expected scores

• 1st innings: 170–185
• 2nd innings: 160–175