Photo by TimBray (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons

India v New Zealand 4th T20I: a sold-out Eden Park and a 5-0 on the line

India have already won the five-match T20I series against New Zealand 3-0, but the fourth match on Friday at Eden Park in Auckland comes with plenty at stake: a possible 5-0 whitewash for India and a crowd the hosts have not seen in a bilateral series. It starts at 8:00 pm local time, 12:30 pm IST.

New Zealand Cricket says the match is sold out, with more than 40,000 fans expected. That would beat the bilateral series attendance record of 36,523, set at the Eden Park doubleheader against India in 2019.

Only two internationals at the ground have drawn more: about 41,000 for the 2015 World Cup semi-final and a reported 42,000 for a 1982 ODI.

India won the first T20I in Christchurch by four wickets with two balls to spare, chasing 225 after Glenn Phillips made an unbeaten 82 from 40. They won the second, also by four wickets, from 112 for 6 chasing 181: Tilak Varma made 51 not out from 26 balls and Nitish Kumar Reddy 26 not out from 13, after Mitchell Santner took 4 for 21.

In Wellington on Tuesday Abhishek Sharma made 113 from 38 balls and India reached 199 in 13.2 overs, winning by six wickets.

India scored 118 in the first six overs in Wellington, a record for them, previews note. With the series won, one preview expects India to use the game to try combinations, particularly in spin: Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy are in the squad but have not played in the series so far.

New Zealand are without Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson, both ruled out of the series with calf injuries. Santner, the captain, has been the home side's best bowler but, by one preview's account, is still waiting for his first toss win of the series, and bowling first has been the preferred choice so far.

The numbers favour India: they have won 22 of 34 T20Is against New Zealand, 10 of the last 11 and the last five in a row, and nine of their last 10 T20Is in New Zealand. New Zealand's last home T20I win over India came in Hamilton in 2019. The fifth and final match is at Seddon Park, Hamilton, on 1 November.

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