New Zealand must win in Wellington to keep the T20I series against India alive

New Zealand have been in front in both T20Is against India and lost both, and another defeat at Sky Stadium on Tuesday hands the series to the visitors with two matches still to play

India lead the five-match series 2-0 after two finishes settled in the final over at Hagley Oval, and a win in Wellington would close it out. New Zealand have to win to keep it alive.

Both defeats followed the same shape. New Zealand posted a total their bowlers were well placed to defend, India lost wickets in a cluster, and the chase was completed anyway with balls to spare.

The third T20I begins at 12:30pm IST on Tuesday, the first match of the series away from Christchurch.

Two finishes that got away

In the opener on 22 October, New Zealand made 225 for 4 and watched India reply with 230 for 6, the chase finished with two balls remaining when Naman Dhir hit the winning six. Dhir ended 42 not out and took the match award.

Two days later the margin was narrower still. New Zealand recovered from 41 for 3 in the powerplay to 180 for 5, and India got home at 181 for 6 with one ball left.

India had been 70 for 5 and then 112 for 6 in that chase before Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy took it away from the hosts, Varma unbeaten on 51 and Reddy on 26.

Phillips is carrying the batting

Glenn Phillips has 152 runs in the series, more than any other batter on either side, and has passed fifty in both matches.

He made 82 not out from 40 balls in the opener, with eight fours and three sixes. In the second match he made 70 and added 116 for the fourth wicket with Bevon Jacobs, who made 58, after the top order had gone cheaply.

"Obviously GP's done it for a long time now, and I think even Bev, they played the situation beautifully," Mitchell Santner said of the pair.

Four wickets that went unrewarded

Santner took 4-21 in the second T20I, dismissing Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Abhishek Sharma and Dhir, and still finished on the losing side.

"I think if we got one more wicket there, it was kind of game over," the New Zealand captain said afterwards.

He put the defeat down to detail rather than margin, pointing to no-balls and untidy work in the field in the closing overs. "A score like 180, if they get off to a flyer with the powerplay, it is pretty tough from there," Santner said.

A pace attack being managed

Matt Henry left the field during the second match and Lockie Ferguson also went off, both described by the captain as a precaution rather than a concern.

"I think it's precautionary, and I think Lockie went off as well," Santner said, adding that the schedule would force changes regardless: "I think with the quick turnarounds throughout the series and in the one-days, there could be a bit of rotation."

India have a gap of their own. Ishan Kishan missed the second match with a niggle and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi batted at No. 3 in his place, making 4 from 8 balls.

Wellington asks a different question

Sky Stadium is an open bowl close to the harbour, and the wind is the ground's defining feature. It swirls above the stands and has a long record of making high catches awkward.

That is an unhelpful setting for a side whose last defeat turned on small errors. New Zealand have named no team yet and are expected to look at the surface before settling on one.

India, by contrast, arrive with a settled batting order and two chases already completed under pressure.

New Zealand and India meet in the third T20I at Sky Stadium in Wellington on Tuesday.

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