India vs New Zealand: Will it be a battle of two batting teams or two of the best pace batteries? Until Tuesday, it seemed like a possibility. But the Wankhede Stadium pitch on Wednesday had a different look. The grassy patches were trimmed further to reveal a bare surface that would have some turn as the ball gets older. But will Rohit Sharma or Kane Williamson opt for an additional spinner? It’s unlikely. IND vs NZ Pitch report may suggest some assistance for spinners but it is still a hard red-soil surface with shorter boundaries which will help batters in the Cricket World Cup semifinal.
IND vs NZ Pitch Report:
Wankhede Stadium has always offered a batting heaven. It is in Mumbai where Glenn Maxwell smashed a double century last week. And so far, it has been a high-scoring venue with the average first total being 357. South Africa smashed 399 against England. India hammered 357 against Sri Lanka.
However, most of those pitches were red-soil pitches with some assistance for seamers. But for the India vs New Zealand semifinals, it is going to be a mixed surface with hardly any grass left.
While dew will be a factor, more importantly, it will look a different surface in the 2nd innings. As has been the trend, it will get difficult to bat on the Mumbai surface.
India bowled out Sri Lanka for 55 runs. The only match where the team batting second won was Australia who beat Afghanistan. However, it was thanks to a wonder knock by Glenn Maxwell.
However, historically, there hasn’t been an advantage for teams batting first. In 27 ODIs at the venue, teams won batting first 14 times while chasing teams have won 13 times.
“Honestly I have played a lot of cricket here. The last 4-5 games won’t tell me a lot about what Wankhede is. And I don’t want to talk about much what Wankhede is. But I certainly believe that toss is not the factor,” Rohit Sharma said at the pre-macth press conference.
Wankhede Pitch stats (ODIs)
- Matches: 27
- Average first innings total: 261
- Highest first innings total: 438
- Highest successful chase: 292
- Team won batting first: 14
- Team won batting second: 13
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