Venue: Trent Bridge, Nottingham
Timings: 3 PM IST
Match 18 of the ICC World Cup 2019 will see India take on New Zealand in a battle of the unbeaten, as both teams have not lost a match yet in the tournament. India beat South Africa and Australia, while New Zealand has been unbeaten in their three matches so far and head the points table.
The Indian team was dealt a big blow as Shikhar Dhawan suffered a broken thumb on his left hand during his innings of 117 against Australia, which was confirmed by scans after Indian innings and has ruled the left-hander out of competition for 3 matches at least. The team has not called for any replacements or cover for him and his condition is being monitored by the medical staff of the team.
This means KL Rahul, who was batting at no.4 will have to move up the order and open the innings with Rohit Sharma and a place opens up in the batting order which might be filled by either Dinesh Karthik or Vijay Shankar. It remains to be seen who bats at no.4 or whether MS Dhoni moves up in middle order and either of the two mentioned above bat at no.5.
For New Zealand, it has been a wonderful time as they have been precise in the execution of plans and hence has not lost a game yet. They even scratched past Bangladesh who gave them a tough fight. 
For them, the heroes have been their bowlers Boult, Henry, and Ferguson, who has blasted the opposition away. Meanwhile, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Colin Munro, and Neesham have been doing their jobs wonderfully well.
India holds a big advantage over New Zealand beating them 4-1 in ODIs in their last meeting in New Zealand. This match will definitely prove to be a cliffhanger, rains permitting.
India Predicted Playing XI:
KL Rahul, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli (C), MS Dhoni (WK), Dinesh Karthik, Kedar Jadhav, Hardik Pandya, Kuldeep Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand Predicted Playing XI:
Colin Munro, Martin Guptill, Kane Williamson (C), Ross Taylor, Tom Latham (WK), Jimmy Neesham, Colin de Grandhomme, Mitchell Santner, Matt Henry, Lockie Ferguson, Trent Boult
