Cricket: What New Zealand must do if India are to be beaten in decider

New Zealand swing bowler Trent Boult. Photo / Alan Gibson.

New Zealand are chasing a historic first bilateral ODI series win over India in India. The decider is at Kanpur on Sunday night.

They are all square going into game three. Here are five keys if New Zealand are to win the deciding ODI:

1: Start well with the bat.

Okay it may be stating the bleedin' obvious but New Zealand's batting class resides in its top three, in Martin Guptill and captain Kane Williamson. Yes, Ross Taylor and Tom Latham have been in strong form in the middle order and provide plenty of ballast, but in both ODIs so far they have been tasked with pulling New Zealand into the contest. Once they did it magnificently to nail the six-wicket win in Mumbai; but Pune in game two was a stretch. Encouraging point: both Guptill and Williamson, 50 runs combined in four innings, are due.

2: Keep rotating the strike.

It's one of batting's commandments but New Zealand weren't able to do that in Pune. It's especially important when you have a left-right combination at the crease. New Zealand got bogged down against the spinners, of whom nude (ie doesn't turn the ball) offspinner Kedar Jadhav was the most frustrating. Bowling round arm, he flummoxed New Zealand's batsmen, who were unable to figure out if the ball was going to turn or go straight through. Rule of thumb: he underspins the ball, therefore it tends to carry straight on. Yuzvendra Chahal is a classy legspinner and while Axar Patel is the least effective, he's still no mug. Quality Indian spinners can be found on most street corners but if New Zealand are to succeed in a bilateral series for the first time, they need to work out a way to prosper against the twirly men.

3: Bowlers must work in a pack.

Trent Boult was outstanding in game one, less so yesterday. Tim Southee has been expensive. Adam Milne had a cracking night in Pune, pacy and persistent. Now let's see them all on song at the same time. Watch how India's new ball pair Jasprit Bumrah -- he of the short hippity-hop runup -- and swing man Bhuvneshwar Kumar bounce off each other. India's bowling was terrific in Pune; New Zealand need to match that at Kanpur.

4: Study the form guide.

What's the best course of action upon winning the toss in Kanpur? Williamson was loath to concede he may have got his decision wrong in Pune, but his opposite, Virat Kohli was adamant even before the opening delivery, that bowling first was the way to go in Pune, where the pitches tend to quicken up in the cooler evening. Cool is a relative term; let's say not as sweltering as Mumbai was. A history check is needed but also consider this: what would India less prefer to do, and that's most likely bat first. Kohli and MS Dhoni have solid history of overseeing chases.

5: Key players must stand tall.

Yes it's a team game and in the successful ones the sum of the parts tends to be the rule. But certain players are game changers. Colin de Grandhomme briefly hinted at having a big night with the bat in Pune; similarly Milne was top value with his energy and pace. There is a significant prize at stake. So New Zealand need top class work from the likes of Boult, Williamson, Guptill, Taylor, seasoned campaigners on whom New Zealand have come to rely.