New Zealand lose Tickner and Henry for the Hamilton ODI as India close on the series

New Zealand will be without Blair Tickner and Matt Henry at Seddon Park on Tuesday as India look to take an unassailable lead in the five-match ODI series

New Zealand have lost two fast bowlers from their squad for the third ODI against India in Hamilton and called up Northern Districts seamer Kristian Clarke as cover, a day before a match India can win to settle the series with two games still to play.

Blair Tickner was struck on the helmet while batting in the second ODI in Wellington on Saturday and was replaced in the side by Matt Fisher. New Zealand Cricket said "Tickner has since been cleared of concussion", but having been replaced he must serve the ICC's mandatory seven-day stand-down period, which rules him out of the next two matches.

Matt Henry misses the Hamilton game after a collision with Devon Conway in training. He was cleared of concussion in Auckland, reassessed in Wellington and has been advised to aim for a return in the fourth ODI.

A thinner attack for the decider

New Zealand named 14 for the third ODI: Mitchell Santner (captain), Michael Bracewell, Kristian Clarke, Jacob Duffy, Matt Fisher, Kyle Jamieson, Nick Kelly, Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert, Nathan Smith and Will Young.

Clarke, a right-arm quick, comes in specifically as bowling cover for Tickner.

Lockie Ferguson has also been ruled out of the fourth and fifth ODIs. New Zealand Cricket said he "has not fully recovered from the low-grade right-calf tear" he sustained during the preceding T20I series.

Two batting collapses to answer for

The hosts were bowled out for 134 in 41 overs in the second ODI, their lowest ODI total against India at home, with Gurnoor Brar taking career-best figures of 4-30.

India were far from convincing in reply. They slipped to 54 for 4 after Shubman Gill fell in the second over, before Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul steadied the chase.

Rain returned with India 113 for 7 after 26 overs, four runs ahead of the DLS par score, and the match was called off there. New Zealand's top three of Seifert, Young and Nicholls have yet to build a stand of any length in the series.

Rain the larger obstacle

The forecast for Hamilton is poor, with showers expected around the scheduled 3pm start and more than 25mm of rain predicted across Tuesday.

Seddon Park head groundsman Karl Johnson said preparation has been disrupted. "New Zealand's been pretty wet over the last few days, and we've had quite a lot of rain here yesterday," he said.

"We're trying to fast-track our pitch, because when they sit under our covers, they do sweat a bit," Johnson said, adding that the ground's Patumahoe soil "does dry pretty quick".

There is no reserve day in a bilateral series, so an abandonment would leave India 2-0 up with two to play.

India's long wait in Hamilton

India have won one of their eight ODIs at Seddon Park. That solitary win came in March 2009, a Duckworth-Lewis result under MS Dhoni, and sides led by Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have since failed to add to it.

One of the eight was washed out without a result, which given the forecast is a realistic outcome again.

The Test series is already pulling at the squad

Latham, Mitchell, Nicholls, Phillips and Smith leave Hamilton for Wellington on Wednesday to prepare for the World Test Championship series against India, and will miss the fifth ODI.

Henry and Kyle Jamieson had been due to join that camp after the third ODI but will now stay with the one-day squad for the fourth match. Two further players are to be added across the last two games.

The third ODI begins at 3pm local time on Tuesday at Seddon Park, with India leading the five-match series 2-0.