Santner wins toss, orders New Zealand to field against India
The Black Caps face a 3-1 deficit after India secured the series lead with three straight victories.
By Adriana Abebe ·
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won his first toss of the series Sunday in Hamilton, opting to have his team bowl in the fifth and final Twenty20 international against India.
Santner had lost the toss in the previous four matches, a streak that contributed to India's dominance in the series. India's Shreyas Iyer won every toss in those earlier games, and his side took the first three matches by margins of four wickets, four wickets, and six wickets respectively.
New Zealand responded Friday in Auckland with an 87-run victory in the fourth match. Glenn Phillips anchored that comeback with a century, helping the Black Caps narrow the series deficit to three games to one.
India adjusted its lineup for Sunday's game by recalling pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and giving wrist spinner Varun Chakravarthi his first appearance of the series. New Zealand also made a change, inserting pacer Blair Tickner in place of Matt Fisher.
The full starting eleven for New Zealand includes Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Santner, Nathan Smith, Adam Milne, Jacob Duffy, and Tickner.
India's lineup features Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Iyer, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Chakravarthi, and Kumar.
