India will be looking to clinch a first series win of the Rohit Sharma-Rahul Dravid era when they face New Zealand in the second T20I in Ranchi on Friday. A five-wicket win in the first match helped India take a 1-0 lead in the three-match series. The win also ended a seven-match losing streak for India across formats against the BlackCaps, who are being captained by fast bowler Tim Southee in the absence of Kane Williamson.

For Rohit, before he gets a much-needed two-and-half-week break from the game, he would like to close the deal at Ranchi and go for the jugular when the teams meet in Kolkata for the final game of the series.

In the absence of Virat Kohli, currently on leave, Suryakumar Yadav made full use of the opportunity at number three with a match-winning 62 off 42 balls. While there is absolutely no necessity to press the panic button, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant’s scratchy batting did slightly mess up the chase although it was never out of control.

The other big positive was the performance of senior bowlers Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Ravichandran Ashwin, who were brilliant in terms of hitting the right areas, while some of the inexperienced bowlers leaked runs at the other end.

WHAT WILL THE WEATHER BE LIKE IN RANCHI?

The forecast for Ranchi on AccuWeather states that the chances of rain in Jharkhand’s capital are negligible. Temperatures are expected to hit a maximum of 26 degrees Celsius during the day and 16 degrees Celsius at the night, however, and curators have said that heavy dew can be expected after 7.30 pm. This means that the team batting first will have a big advantage.