The Indian Cricket Team was handily defeated by New Zealand in the 4th T20I between the two teams, losing the game by a massive 50-run margin.
Tonight’s game was the fourth of the five-match India vs New Zealand T20I series, played at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. It was the home side that won the toss and decided to bowl first.
India vs New Zealand: NZ Beat IND By 50 Runs In 4th T20I
India came into this match with five frontline bowlers (Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, and Ravi Bishnoi), two proper all-rounders in Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube, and an extra bowling option in Abhishek Sharma.
Despite such a solid bowling attack for the Men in Blue, the Kiwis came out all guns blazing with the bat. The opening duo of Tim Seifert and Devon Conway made 71 runs in the powerplay itself. They continued the carnage till the ninth over, when, on the second ball, after conceding a six on the first, Kuldeep dismissed Conway for 44 off 23. The opening partnership was worth 100 runs.
The second wicket followed quickly, in the very next over in fact, as Rachin Ravindra departed for two, caught and bowled by Jasprit Bumrah. New Zealand, while failing to make big partnerships from this point on, kept the run rate high.
In the 13th, Seifert was dismissed by Arshdeep Singh after making 62 off 36, and Glenn Phillips returned to the pavilion in the 14th for 24 off 16, while Mark Chapman made nine off eight and was dismissed on the first ball of the 16th over.
At this point, the Blackcaps were 152/2 and in need of a solid finish. The architect of this climax was one Daryl Mitchell, who, in 18 balls, made 39 runs. Supporting roles by Captain Mitchell Santner (11 off 6), Zakary Foulkes (13 off 6), and Matt Henry (six off three) took the team to a solid score of 215/7.
The Indian batting order, on the contrary, got off to the worst possible start. The in-form Abhishek Sharma got out for a golden duck on the first ball of the inning, falling victim to Henry.
Then, in the second over, another in-form batter, captain Suryakumar Yadav, was dismissed after a run-a-ball eight by Jacob Duffy.
The partnership of Sanju Samson and Rinku Singh then took the Indian Cricket Team past the powerplay, maintaining a 10 rpo. However, soon after the end of the powerplay, in the seventh over, Samson departed for 24 off 15, bowled by Santner.
In the ninth over, Hardik Pandya, after making two off five, became Santner’s second wicket. Soon after, on the 11th, Rinku Singh was dismissed by Zakary Foulkes after a fighting yet struggling 39 off 30.
At 82/5 in the 11th over, India already looked in the dumps. But one man took charge of dragging this down and our team towards its mammoth target. Dube kept the hopes up right until the beginning of the death overs. Getting out at the end of the 15th, DUbe was unfortunately run out after making 65 runs in just 23 deliveries.
After this point, the match was done and dusted. The tail did not provide much resistance as India went from 145/6 in the 15th to 165 all out in the 19th.
New Zealand won this match by 50 runs. Mitchell Santner was the pick of the bowlers for the Kiwis, taking three wickets for 26 runs in four overs. However, it was Tim Seifert who was named the Player of the Match for his blistering knock of 62 off 36.
Despite this win, the Blackcaps have no chance of winning this series, already 3-1 down in this five-match affair. The fifth and final India vs New Zealand T20I will be played on Saturday, January 31, at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.
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