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The seven-wicket defeat at Christchurch in the first match must have taken the reputation of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s young bravehearts as kings of Twenty20 a serious beating which they can only rectify by winning on Friday.

A victory will also boost their morale ahead of the five-match ODI series starting on March 3 and put a balm after their second successive loss against New Zealand in the shortest format of the game.

However, the visitors will have to do a lot of catching up as the Kiwis have the distinct advantage of having bowling all-rounders in their ranks, in contrast to India who rely on their batsmen to bowl in the middle overs.