India vs New Zealand Prediction: 4/1 and 6/1 chances for 5th T20

The T20 World Cup starts next week and India play their final warm-up match with the fifth and final T20 International against New Zealand. This one will be played Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, January 31, start time 13:30.  

Our cricket tipster Jamie Pacheco is going with Kyle Jamieson for NZ top bowler at 4/1 and explains his reasons for doing so, while there’s also a small interest in Rinku Singh at 6/1. Let's check out his India vs New Zealand Predictions...

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Match Preview:

India  

So India are human at home in T20Is after all.  

They allowed New Zealand to get to 215, which was probably more than they should have conceded, and made a poor start to things with the bat.   

Abishek Sharma, who earlier in the Series had hit 84 and 68 at breakneck speed, was out for a golden duck. Curiously, in the other match, he also got out for a golden duck! I was going to say it's a case of feast or famine with him, but considering he's the World's Number 1 ranked T20I batsman, we have to assume it's far more feast.   

But at one stage they recovered and though they were five wickets down, with Shivam Dube hitting it to all parts, they weren't out of it till he…got run out.   

Backing up, Harshit Rana hit one straight back at Matt Henry, who got a finger on it before it deflected onto the stumps at the non-striker's end, with Dube out of his crease by a metre or so. People like to say it's the unluckiest way you can get out, and you can see why they say that.  

It requires a lot to go against you for the ball to be hit that straight, for the bowler to get a hand on it and for it to go on and hit the stumps. But it's also the silliest. Is that extra metre so important that it's worth losing your wicket over? Judge for yourselves.  

Rant over. Arshdeep Singh gave us a payout at half his 7/2 odds when he dead-heated with Kuldeep Yadav on two wickets, so we showed a bit of a profit for the match.     

New Zealand  

NZ won one at last. 

It was very much a team effort with both bat and ball which is precisely what we expect from them.  

But for what it's worth, Tim Seifert was the stand-out man with the bat (62) and Mitch Santner with the ball (3-26). 

Rachin Ravindra has had a quiet Series so far batting at three and not bowling at all and they'll need more from him at the World Cup next month.  But then again, this is a man who has a strange knack for excelling at ICC tournaments, so he'll probably be fine when it comes around.   

They may rest star fast bowler Matt Henry for this one with the WC just around the corner.  

Pitch and conditions 

There have been four T20S played here at Thiruvananthapuram over the years.  

India have won three of their four here, losing to the Windies in 2019.  

The average Runs Per Over is 8.5, so this could be another high-scoring game. Two years ago, India posted 235 here against Australia, who got to 190 in reply.   

No rain is forecast.  

Match Winner odds. 

Here's what we said ahead of the last game:  

"If the wicket on the day is a tricky one, that might be NZ's best chance of winning a game this Series. But we can't be sure about the track, so we won't take the gamble. Besides, India seem to find a way to win matches from any position in any conditions in this format, so that's another reason to give the tempting-looking price a swerve." 

So I guess I was right about it being NZ's best chance but somewhat wrong about the wicket and even more wrong about not taking the gamble.  

2/7 on India plays 5/2 on New Zealand. I could analyse these prices to death, but I won't. I've avoided playing the main market all Series so I'm not going to start now. If you're desperate to play it, go with NZ, but I'll swerve it.  

*For all the latest and live India vs New Zealand 5th T20I Odds then head over to betfred.com 

NZ Top Bowler  

We have something of a complicated relationship over here with Kyle Jamieson.  

When we don't back him, he wins the top bowler market. When we do, he doesn't play.  

But he should play here after being rested for the fourth game. Better still, I suspect Henry, their best bowler and joint-favourite, will be given a breather. If that's the case, that's Jamieson's main threat out of the way. 

Career numbers and win rate suggest he's a bet at 4/1.      

India Top Batsman  

The Number 4 spot is proving to be a bit of a problem for India. Different players this Series have had a go but I'm not sure they're any closer to deciding who will play there when the WC comes about.  

The last one to bat there was Rinku Singh, who has done little wrong this Series with 44 not out and 39 on Thursday, not playing in the other two.  

I don't think it's the end of the world for our bet if he comes in at 5 instead and he's obviously seeing it nicely, so I think he justifies a small interest at a decent-looking 6/1.  

Jamie Pacheco Cricket P/L 2025: 

• Points Staked: 146 
• Points Returned: 151.7  
• Final P/L: +5.7pts  

Jamie Pacheco Cricket P/L 2026:   

• Points Staked: 10
• Points Returned: 14.81 
• Current P/L: +4.81