There will be little to no impact of the toss in the first T20I between India and New Zealand with high chances of dew falling well before the scheduled start of the game. The officials at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur has said that dew has started falling by 7 pm in the evening in the last two days and the trend is likely to continue.
The toss advantage was remarkably visible in the just-concluded T20 World Cup and in almost all the matches, teams batting second got the better conditions to bat on and there were clear signs of toss severely impacting the performance of sides, for both good and the bad.
“Here in Jaipur, there could be dew in the first innings itself going by the last two days which minimises the toss advantage to a certain extent. Since it is a T20, one has to expect lots of runs from this surface,” said an official to PTI.
“We will use the anti-dew spray on match day but we have all seen its effect is very limited.”
A high chance of dew falling will compel both the hosts India and New Zealand while selecting their playing XI especially with regards to the number of spinners in the side. If not for dew, India would have been comfortable fielding a spin-heavy attack but now they will have to give a hard look to the dew and nature of the surface.
The pitch is expected to be flat and stroke makers in both sides should love to hit through the line using the balls coming onto their bats due to dew falling heavily at the night.