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Fantasy: Latham, Gill and batters could be your best bet

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Last updated on 29 Nov 2022 | 11:45 AM
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Fantasy: Latham, Gill and batters could be your best bet

Here are a few tips that could help you create your fantasy XI for the first ODI between New Zealand and India at Hagley Oval

After the rain-fest in Hamilton, the bandwagon has now moved to Christchurch, at the scenic Hagley Oval, which will host the third and final ODI of the series. Whilst there is some news around the corner that rain is following both the teams very closely, a keen cricket fan would want this series to be only decided over 100 riveting overs of action. 

In case you missed it, New Zealand lead the series 1-0, courtesy of the stunning knock from Tom Latham (145*), well supported by his skipper, Kane Williamson, as they chased down a record score of 309 at the Eden Park in Auckland. 

What to expect here? 

Ground Details

Hagley Oval, another venue where seamers are going to get maximum movement, right? Well, we have news for you. It is one of the few venues, where there isn’t a lot to differentiate between the spinners and pacers. Whilst the spinners have picked four wickets, the seamers are marginally better with five wickets. 

On the batting front, the average batting score has been around the 275 brackets. Remember, there hasn’t been a whole lot of ODIs being played at the venue. In fact, there has been only one ODI at the venue since 2020 – Bangladesh vs New Zealand – where the hosts won the clash by five wickets, with ten balls remaining. 

Also, unlike the Eden Park, which had so much on offer for the opening batters, the Hagley Oval is more comfortable for the middle-order batters, with an average of 56.6 since 2020, striking at a healthy strike-rate of 96.3. It would be a safe bet to trust on the middle-order batters. 

Suggested Team

While you could go for the above team, you can also choose your team from Cricket.com’s Fantasy Research Centre. You can use this tool to build your team with the help of algorithms. Then, based on your preferences, the platform will guide you through creating the ideal fantasy XI.

Captaincy Suggestions

For small leagues: Tom Latham (c), Shubman Gill (vc)

For grand leagues: Shreyas Iyer (c), Michael Bracewell (vc)

Stats that matter

-    Unlike the Eden Park, which had so much on offer for the opening batters, the Hagley Oval is more comfortable for the middle-order batters, with an average of 56.6 since 2020, striking at a healthy strike-rate of 96.3. It would be a safe bet to trust on the middle-order batters

-    Shubman Gill continued his stunning form through to the second ODI, where before rain decided it was enough, the opener had scored an unbeaten 45. With that, Gill has taken his year’s runs tally in ODIs to 625, with a staggering average of 78.13. And, with a high-score of 130, you wouldn’t want to take him lightly. 

-    In ODIs since 2020, it is one of the rare venues in New Zealand, where not a whole lot of differentiator is there between pacers and spinners. At the venue, the pacers have picked up five wickets, with the spinners having picked up four wickets. 

-    Tom Latham is comfortably up there, as New Zealand’s top run-scorer of the year. Chuck that, in ODIs since 2020, no Kiwi batter has scored more runs than Latham, who averages 59.43, with three 50s and three 100s in that timeline. 

Grand League Punts

-    All talks of Suryakumar Yadav, it has been Shreyas Iyer, who has been an absolute beast in the 50-over format. Over the last two years, the right-hander is India’s second highest run-scorer, with 903 runs, with seven 50s and two hundreds. It is these epic numbers that really prompt us to put your faith in him. 

-    Michael Bracewell really is a game-changer. Last ODI, he bowled just the two overs but in spin-friendly conditions, expect the all-rounder to play an important role. Since his debut, Bracewell has scored 264 runs, averaging 44, with ten wickets. He’s their seventh-best batter and bowler, isn’t that pretty cool? 

Here are the Top 10 Criclytics Projections

Probable XIs

New Zealand XI: Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Kane Williamson (c), Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Michael Bracewell, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Lockie Ferguson

India XI: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Deepak Hooda, Washington Sundar, Deepak Chahar, Umran Malik, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

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