India tour of New Zealand 2026 · 3rd T20I · Tue 27 Oct, 8:00 pm NZDT (12:30 pm IST)

New Zealand vs India 3rd T20I prediction, players and playing 11

India won by 6 wickets in the 3rd T20I of the India tour of New Zealand 2026 on Tue 27 Oct, Sky Stadium, Wellington.

Updated

Result and fantasy points

India won by 6 wickets · Player of the match: Abhishek Sharma

Our predicted playing 11sNew Zealand: 9 of 11 playedIndia: 11 of 11 played
Our suggested fantasy XI249 pointsCaptain Vaibhav Sooryavanshi: 37 points (3rd best in the match)
Best possible team, with hindsight464 pointsCaptain Abhishek Sharma, vice-captain Daryl Mitchell
Top fantasy scorers
PlayerBatBowlFieldPoints
Abhishek Sharma I860088
Daryl Mitchell NZ620468
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi I350037
Finn Allen NZ290031
Bevon Jacobs NZ270029
Axar Patel I010820
Glenn Phillips NZ100820
Kyle Jamieson NZ016018
Sanju Samson I120014
Mitchell Santner NZ012014
Arshdeep Singh I010012

Points include the 2 for playing (in the total, not the columns). Our picks above were made before the match from earlier games only, and are shown unchanged.

Our pre-match prediction

Prediction: India have the edge, 56% to 44%.

  • India's predicted XI is stronger on recent T20 form: 235 expected fantasy points against 224 for New Zealand.
  • India lead the T20I head to head 22–13. Full New Zealand vs India head to head →
  • Last five matches: New Zealand LLWLL; India WWNLW
  • At Sky Stadium, Wellington, chasing sides have won 10 of 18 T20s and sides batting first 8.

The win chance compares both predicted XIs on their recent T20 form. Tested on 926 past T20 international matches, sides we rated at about 60% or more won about two in three; treat any figure under 55% as a toss-up.

New Zealand vs India players and squads

New Zealand squad: Mitchell Santner (c), Finn Allen, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Jacob Duffy, Bevon Jacobs, Nathan Smith, Devon Conway (wk), Adam Milne, Josh Clarkson, Blair Tickner, Matthew Fisher

India squad: Shreyas Iyer (c), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma (vc), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shivam Dube, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Mayank Yadav

Captains: Mitchell Santner (New Zealand) and Shreyas Iyer (India).

New Zealand predicted playing 11

PlayerExp. ptsLast 5 games
Mitchell SantnercaptainAR · 25+ T20s256228162817
Finn AllenBAT · 25+ T20s291139231171
Glenn PhillipsAR · 25+ T20s245960111610
Tim SeifertWK · 25+ T20s2371912645
Daryl MitchellAR · 25+ T20s19142027394
Michael BracewellAR · 25+ T20s17926121166
Jacob DuffyBOWL · 25+ T20s1610238-210
Bevon JacobsBAT · 25+ T20s173927577-3
Nathan SmithAR · 23 T20s1712027150
Devon ConwayWK · 25+ T20s21201720026
Adam MilneBOWL · 25+ T20s1610-321618
Rest of the squad (3)
Josh ClarksonAR · 18 T20s17423422728
Blair TicknerBOWL · 20 T20s13663818
Matthew FisherBOWL · 1 T2012-4

India predicted playing 11

PlayerExp. ptsLast 5 games
Shreyas IyercaptainBAT · 25+ T20s2442818133
Vaibhav SooryavanshiBAT · 25+ T20s31-216366321
Sanju SamsonWK · 25+ T20s2511581851-2
Abhishek SharmaAR · 25+ T20s25182761955
Tilak VarmaAR · 25+ T20s2450563432
Nitish Kumar ReddyAR · 25+ T20s21311272645
Naman DhirBAT · 25+ T20s20313424-630
Bhuvneshwar KumarBOWL · 25+ T20s186022224
Axar PatelAR · 25+ T20s1813272823
Arshdeep SinghBOWL · 25+ T20s1522142953
Prince YadavBOWL · 25+ T20s15142141622
Rest of the squad (5)
Ishan KishanWK · 25+ T20s2632763535
Shivam DubeAR · 25+ T20s172-2247-2
Varun ChakravarthyBOWL · 25+ T20s165182155
Kuldeep YadavBOWL · 25+ T20s1562438-4-2
Mayank YadavBOWL · 21 T20s1410-403810

Predicted playing 11s are our estimate from each squad: once a side has played in this series, its last XI, otherwise the captain first, then recent T20 fantasy points and experience. They change when the teams are announced at the toss.

New Zealand vs India probable batting order and bowlers

Who opens, and who bowls in the powerplay, middle and death overs

New Zealand probable batting order

Devon Conway and Tim Seifert are likely to open for New Zealand.

  1. 1Devon Conwayopens
  2. 2Tim Seifertopens
  3. 3Finn Allenopens
  4. 4Daryl MitchellNos. 3–4
  5. 5Glenn PhillipsNos. 1–4
  6. 6Bevon JacobsNos. 5–6
  7. 7Michael BracewellNos. 5–7
  8. 8Mitchell Santner
  9. 9Nathan Smith
  10. 10Adam Milne
  11. 11Jacob Duffy

New Zealand: who bowls when

Adam Milne and Jacob Duffy are likely to take the new ball.

Powerplay overs 1–6
Jacob Duffy (pace, most often overs 1, 2 and 3); Adam Milne (pace, most often overs 2, 4 and 5)
Middle overs 7–15
Mitchell Santner (spin, most often overs 7, 9 and 10); Michael Bracewell (spin, most often overs 7, 8 and 10); Jacob Duffy (pace, most often overs 9, 12 and 14)
Death overs 16–20
Nathan Smith (pace, most often overs 16 and 18); Adam Milne (pace, most often overs 16, 17 and 19)

India probable batting order

Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma are likely to open for India.

  1. 1Sanju Samsonopens
  2. 2Abhishek Sharmaopens
  3. 3Vaibhav Sooryavanshiopens
  4. 4Shreyas IyerNo. 4
  5. 5Tilak VarmaNos. 5–6
  6. 6Axar PatelNos. 5–8
  7. 7Naman DhirNos. 6–7
  8. 8Nitish Kumar Reddy
  9. 9Arshdeep Singh
  10. 10Prince Yadav
  11. 11Bhuvneshwar Kumar

India: who bowls when

Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Arshdeep Singh are likely to take the new ball.

Powerplay overs 1–6
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (pace, most often overs 1, 2 and 3); Arshdeep Singh (pace, most often overs 1, 2 and 3)
Middle overs 7–15
Axar Patel (spin, most often overs 8, 10 and 12); Nitish Kumar Reddy (pace, most often overs 8, 14 and 15); Prince Yadav (pace, most often overs 9, 13 and 15)
Death overs 16–20
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (pace, most often overs 16, 18 and 19); Prince Yadav (pace, most often overs 17, 19 and 20)

From each player's last 10 T20s, leaning on where they batted and bowled in their last game for this side. Tested on about 1,000 past matches, the batting slot was within one place of the actual order 85% of the time and both openers were right three times in four. Death bowling changes most from match to match.

Sky Stadium, Wellington pitch report

18 T20s have been played at Sky Stadium, Wellington, with an average first-innings score of 164. Sides batting first have won 8 and chasing sides 10. Captains who won the toss chose to field 11 times out of 18. Full Sky Stadium, Wellington stats and records →

Suggested fantasy XI

Highest expected points from both probable XIs: 11 players, at most 7 from one side, 1–4 wicketkeepers, 3–6 batters, 1–4 all-rounders and 3–6 bowlers

Wicketkeepers · 1

Batters · 3

All-rounders · 4

Bowlers · 3

  • Option 2: Tim Seifert in for Tilak Varma (302 expected points, against 302)
  • Option 3: Tim Seifert, Devon Conway in for Glenn Phillips, Tilak Varma (299 expected points, against 302)

Suggestions are statistical estimates from past matches, not guarantees. CricketViz is not affiliated with the ICC, either board or any fantasy sports app.

Captain and vice-captain picks

Who to make captain and vice-captain, and why

CaptainVaibhav Sooryavanshi IExpected 31 points, so about 62 as captain (2×)Top scorer of this XI in 18% of 4,000 simulated matchesTop scorer of the match in 8 of 32 T20s
Vice-captainFinn Allen NZExpected 29 points, so about 44 as vice-captain (1.5×)In the XI's top two in 24% of 4,000 simulated matchesSecond-top scorer of the match in 7 of 72 T20s

Close call: Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Finn Allen are only 1.8 expected points apart, so either is a sound captain. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi tops this XI more often in our simulations (18% against 14%). Captaining Finn Allen is a differential pick that fewer teams are likely to make.

  • The captain earns double and the vice-captain one and a half times their points, so these two picks swing a fantasy team more than any other. Put your two highest expected scorers there.
  • When expected points are close, prefer the player who tops the scoring more often (the simulated share and the record below), or pick the other one as a differential that fewer teams will have.
  • All-rounders and top-order batters are steadier picks: they can score with the bat, the ball and in the field.
Captaincy options from the suggested XI
PlayerExp. ptsTop scorerTop twoBest CBest VC
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi IC32 recent T20s3118%31%25%8/329%3/32
Finn Allen NZVC40 recent T20s2914%24%10%7/7210%7/72
Mitchell Santner NZ40 recent T20s257%17%7%5/745%4/74
Sanju Samson I40 recent T20s2516%23%11%10/898%7/89
Abhishek Sharma I40 recent T20s2510%24%14%15/1117%8/111
Shreyas Iyer I40 recent T20s2412%22%9%6/6812%8/68
  • Exp. pts: from the player's recent T20s (up to 25, shown under the name), newest counting most.
  • Top scorer / top two: how often the player scores the most (or is in the top two) in this XI, over 4,000 simulated matches.
  • Best C / VC: how often the player was the match's top (or second-top) fantasy scorer, across both teams, in their T20s of the last three years; not how many people picked them. How we calculate this

Questions about this match

Who are the captains of New Zealand and India?
Mitchell Santner (New Zealand) and Shreyas Iyer (India).
When and where is New Zealand vs India?
Tue 27 Oct 2026, 8:00 pm NZDT (12:30 pm IST), at Sky Stadium, Wellington.
What is the New Zealand predicted playing 11?
Mitchell Santner (c), Finn Allen, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Jacob Duffy, Bevon Jacobs, Nathan Smith, Devon Conway (wk), Adam Milne.
What is the India predicted playing 11?
Shreyas Iyer (c), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma (vc), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav.
Who will open the batting for New Zealand?
Devon Conway and Tim Seifert are likely to open for New Zealand.
Who will bowl at the death for New Zealand?
Nathan Smith (most often overs 16 and 18) and Adam Milne (most often overs 16, 17 and 19) usually bowl at the death for New Zealand.
Who will open the batting for India?
Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma are likely to open for India.
Who will bowl at the death for India?
Bhuvneshwar Kumar (most often overs 16, 18 and 19) and Prince Yadav (most often overs 17, 19 and 20) usually bowl at the death for India.
What is the Sky Stadium, Wellington pitch report?
18 T20s have been played at Sky Stadium, Wellington, with an average first-innings score of 164. Sides batting first have won 8 and chasing sides 10.

More on this match