There are just four international matches of note set to take place in the week with one of them being a dead rubber as India take on New Zealand in the final ODI of the series. England and South Africa end their series with three T20Is in the week which will prepare them for the T20 World Cup coming up. Here's a look at five players to watch out for and bank upon for Moneyball fantasy managers.
David Miller
Country: South Africa
Match/Series: South Africa vs England, T20Is
David Miller put a lid on the noise surrounding his lack of form with a telling half-century in the final ODI, but in a T20 World Cup year, the experienced South African finisher might have to do more such stuff in the shortest format of the game. He has form behind him from the ODIs and boasts of a strike rate of 140 in T20Is. His last innings of note in the format came a year ago against Pakistan and it might be Miller’s time again this series.
Shreyas Iyer
Country: India
Match/Series: India vs New Zealand, ODI
Shreyas Iyer has put all doubts to rest with some outstanding batting performances in this series. A maiden century in the first ODI was followed by a half-century in the second even as India lost both matches. Iyer, though, averages 49 in the format now and has a strike rate over 100, establishing his qualities as a top-class middle-order batsman for India in the format. He ought to finish the series on a high and is a highly bankable player for this week.
Ross Taylor
Country: New Zealand
Match/Series: India vs New Zealand, ODI
Ross Taylor has a century and a 73 in the two wins for New Zealand so far this series. The Kiwis batsman boasts of a scintillating record against India in this format. He has an average of 49.03 in 34 ODIs against India with three hundreds and eight half-centuries. More importantly, since 2016, Taylor has 707 runs - the most by any player from numbers 4 to 7 - in 16 matches at an average of 54.38 with a hundred and four fifties against India.
Read | Ross Taylor - Tom Latham and India's stiff middle overs challenge
Kyle Jamieson
Country: New Zealand
Match/Series: India vs New Zealand, ODIs
Kyle Jamieson made his ODI debut a memorable one as he played a crucial cameo from lower down the order and then picked up the big wicket of Prithvi Shaw to halt India's surge in the run-chase. The tallest New Zealand player ever, Jamieson was impactful at Eden Park and will hope to end the series on a high at Mount Maunganui.
Dawid Malan
Country: England
Match/Series: South Africa vs England, T20Is
Dawid Malan's last T20I knock was a 51-ball 103 in his final T20I in New Zealand. That didn't earn him a place in the XI for the ODIs in South Africa, but should surely make him a no-brainer in the starting line-up in the T20Is. Malan has a Bradman-esque average (in T20I terms) of 57.25 in the format and is a key player at the top capable of holding together an innings or accelerating.
Feature image courtesy: AFP / Michael Bradley
