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India v/s New Zealand: It's a battle of brittle middle-orders

Series tied 1-1, India and New Zealand square off tonight in third ODI with batting line-ups that have do not run deep

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A trainer helps India’s limited-overs vice captain Virat Kohli do some stretching excercises on the eve of the third ODI at the Punjab Cricket Stadium Association Stadium in Mohali on Saturday
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One-sided series makes for boring cricket. And on going New Zealand's tour of India had been an example of that.

Adding to the lop-sided cricket in three Tests and the first ODI, is the talk around all venues or practice sessions during this one month was more about Board of Control for Cricket in India's tussle with Supreme Court than about on-field strategies.

Finally, New Zealand's six-run win over Team India in New Delhi, which squared the 5-match series 1-1, has brought back focus back on cricket.

It's another matter that Punjab Cricket Association's top brass is still looking for ways to deal with growing influence of former players, who gathered here in Chandigarh on Friday, to showcase their unity against officials here who have been at the helm of unaccounted years now.

Kane Williamson's fine century in the second one-dayer has restored confidence of the visitors, which appeared to be missing till three days ago. Mohali's clash has suddenly become so important for Team India because a victory or loss here could well decide the course of this ODI series.

It's not just that Williamson's ton has settled the problems of middle-order for the visitors, but he has also showed the way to tackle India's second-string spin attack in the shorter format. Now, what he needs is some decent performance by out of form Ross Taylor in order to ensure some consolation prize towards the tour's end.

The former skipper has looked like a pale shadow of his peak form. Taylor, who has troubled Indian attack in the past, struggled during his knock of 21 in Delhi. And Williamson's troubles double when he sees Martin Guptill's inability to find feet despite showing tremendous confidence during the ongoing tour, especially in the last Test.

As far as visiting batsmen go, only Tom Latham has carried the hopes of Black Caps. Otherwise, from 204 for three with 10 overs remaining, they managed a total of only 242 for nine and this might have given Williamson something to worry about.

However, the Kiwi skipper is not the only one bogged down by middle-order problems. Take a look at Mahendra Singh Dhoni and one would know that his situation could well be as vulnerable because his middle-order is dependent on Virat Kohli's explosive form and his own decision to come up in the order, has robbed India of a finisher too.

Hardik Pandya's gutsy show in first two games is the only positive, which Dhoni could count as his achievement. Otherwise, his own 39 off 65 deliveries in no way could be counted as a decent outing.

Dhoni can take some heart from the fact that he scored an unbeaten 139 in the ODI he played at this venue three years back, but then that has so far remained his last century as well.

Another thing which he has to ensure in Mohali is that Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane rotate the strike frequently. The 33 dot deliveries which both of them played in the beginning at Ferozeshah Kotla could be hard to explain in an era of shorter format games.

With Suresh Raina's continued absence from the ODI series, the starting line up for India is likely to be the same. At No. 4, Manish Pandey has been given the most important batting slot but he, too, has failed to make an impact after some promising starts.

The case of domestic run machine Kedar Jadhav is also the same. Though, his 41 runs in Delhi was impressive, his inability to finish the game after adding 66 runs with Dhoni proved fatal for the team.

And as it is almost a norm now, it is India's batting mainstay Kohli, who will be expected to showcase his master class yet again after getting out to a brilliant leg-side catch by Luke Ronchi on Thursday.

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