The Chester-le-Street pitch is considered a bowler's paradise. The average first innings score here is just 138 runs.
This ground is nothing short of a nightmare for batsmen. Scoring runs on this pitch has been extremely difficult, reminiscent of the recent struggles of Indian batsmen in Ireland.
The stats of the Riverside Ground indicate that bowlers hold the upper hand here. A total of eight T20 international matches have been played on this ground so far.
Out of these, the team batting first has won only three times, while the chasing team has emerged victorious on five occasions.
The average first innings score here is a mere 138 runs, which is quite low by T20 standards. In the second innings, it drops further to 131 runs.
However, England had posted a massive score of 195 against Australia on this very ground. But this seems to be an exception.
The highest successful run chase on this ground is just 143 runs, achieved by England against New Zealand. This shows that even a small target can be defended here.
This pitch is a major challenge for the Indian team. Recently in Belfast, Ireland, the team had to play on similar pitches where the average score was around 130 runs.
The Indian batsmen failed miserably there, and the team had to face defeat in both matches. In such a scenario, the young team led by Shreyas Iyer will have to overcome this challenge.
This match will start at 10:00 PM IST on Wednesday. The match will be broadcast live on the Sony Sports Network, while live streaming will be available on the SonyLIV app.
Shreyas Iyer (Captain), Tilak Varma (Vice-captain), Sanju Samson (Wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (Wicketkeeper), Vaibhav Suryavanshi, Suryansh Shedge, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Abhishek Sharma, Ravi Bishnoi, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Harshit Rana, and Prasidh Krishna.
Harry Brook, Rehan Ahmed, Jofra Archer, Sonny Baker, Tom Banton, Jacob Bethell, Jos Buttler, James Coles, Jordan Cox, Sam Curran, Liam Dawson, Will Jacks, Saqib Mahmood, Adil Rashid, Phil Salt, Josh Tongue, and Luke Wood.
Overall, this match is going to be a tough contest between bat and ball. The team whose bowlers and batsmen adapt better to the conditions will win. The Indian team will have to take the field having learned from its past mistakes.
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