Getty India captain Virat Kohli.
The New Zealand cricket team will host India’s Men in Blue at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday for the first of five T20 matches, which will be succeeded by three ODIs and a pair of tests.
The match (starts Friday at 1:50 a.m. ET) won’t be on TV in the United States, but anyone in the US can watch New Zealand vs India live on ESPN+:
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Once signed up for ESPN+, you can then watch New Zealand vs India live on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the ESPN app.
If you don’t watch live, the match will also be available on-demand on ESPN+.
New Zealand vs India Preview
The Black Caps are coming off a 3-0 series defeat at the hands of Australia in 2019-21 ICC World Test Championship play. It was New Zealand’s 13th consecutive failure to capture the Trans-Tasman Trophy, hardware they haven’t held since 1993.
“It’s big. This whole Indian tour is big after what happened in Australia,” Back Caps batting coach Craig McMillan told Radio Sport Breakfast, according to The New Zealand Herald. “Five Twenty20s to start and I know it’s not everyone’s favourite format of the game but we’ve got a T20 World Cup later in the year in October in Australia so straight away these five matches become important. Because of the performance in Australia we need to start winning again and get that support back.”
The Men in Blue played Australia their last time out as well, besting them 2-1 in an ODI series at home from Jan. 14-19.
After dropping the first ODI by 10 wickets, India racked up 340 runs in the second to win by 36. In the decisive match, they caught Australia’s 286 with 7 wickets to spare behind Rohit Sharma’s 119-run knock.
“We want to bat well when we bat first, and in case we’re defending a low total, we should be able to do that as well,” India captain Virat Kohli said, according to the official ICC website. “Clarity of mind is really crucial because we’re playing in conditions that are not ours, so we have to take even more intensity into that series to put the home team under pressure, set that sort of template from game one and build from there.
“We can’t afford to ease into the series after two games, because then it keeps getting tougher and tougher, so we’ll look to make a mark in the first game that we play, play expressive cricket and be sure of what we want to do.”
The Men in Blue last toured New Zealand a year ago, taking an ODI series 2-1 before dropping a T20 set by the same score.
“We were very positive in how we played, very sure of what we wanted to do,” Kohli said of that visit, per the ICC site. “The thing about playing away is, if you’re able to put the home team under pressure, you can enjoy your cricket. You have to win at home, there’s that sort of feeling. So if you bring out your A game, you can really put them under pressure.
“That’s what we did last year, squeezed them in the middle overs, picked up wickets, and the spinners were outstanding. Looking forward to take that same intensity into the series. We’ve played really well in 2020, want to continue that.”