New Zealand hit back hard in this 4th T20I by thrashing India by 50 runs in Visakhapatnam as they outplayed India in all facets of the game. New Zealand looked determined from the word go and played without fear while they fielded really well in the second innings. Put into bat first, New Zealand rode on a magnificent 62 off 36 balls and others playing around him to post a mammoth 215/7 in 20 overs with Daryl Mitchell providing the finishing touches as well.
In reply, Indian batting collapsed in a heap except Shivam Dube who played a magnificent innings of 65 runs off 23 balls but he was unfortunately run out at the bowler’s end while the others couldn’t really stand up as captain Mitchell Santner stood up with his impressive 3-wicket haul as India folded for 165 in 18.4 overs to lose the contest by 50 runs as the series now stands at 3-1 in India’s favour.
Tim Seifert’s Powerful Half-Century powers New Zealand to 215/7
Put into bat first, Devon Conway and Tim Seifert came out to open for New Zealand while Arshdeep Singh had the ball in hand for India. Seifert was on the charge straightaway as he hit Arshdeep for a couple of boundaries in the first over itself to make his intentions clear. Conway played second fiddle and could afford to as Seifert was going all guns blazing from the other end.
It did not matter who came onto bowl but Seifert was in the zone and Conway was happy to play second fiddle and after getting set for 10-15 balls he opened up as well and got the runs going for the Kiwis. New Zealand raced away to 71/0 in 6 overs and were off and running. New Zealand went further aggressive and they brought up their 100 in 8.1 overs and of the partnership as well. Kuldeep finally broke through as he removed Conway for 44 off 23 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes to his name.
Rachin Ravindra came out to bat next and got off the mark as well. But he did not last long as 3 runs were added to the score before Ravindra fell for 2 off 4 balls chipping it back to Jasprit Bumrah. Glenn Phillips came out to bat next and got off the mark with a boundary through an outside edge down to third man. Seifert was the in-batter and continued his hitting prowess while Phillips got his eye in as well. The duo of Phillips and Seifert put on 23 for the third wicket before Seifert fell for 62 off 36 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes to his name to Arshdeep Singh.
Mark Chapman came out to bat next to join Phillips in the middle. The duo added another 11 runs to the score before Phillips fell for 24 off 16 balls with 3 fours and a six to his name to Kuldeep Yadav. Daryl Mitchell came out to bat next as India pegged things back a bit in the middle overs. Mitchell was on the go from the get go as he came in at 6 and played the role of a finisher.
It was a struggle for Chapman in the middle while Mitchell looked fluent from the word go. The duo could add only 15 runs to the score before Chapman fell for 9 off 8 balls with one four to his name to Ravi Bishnoi. Mitchell Santner came out to bat and smashed Bishnoi for a maximum and boundary to get quickly off the blocks. The duo of Santner and Mitchell added a quick 11 runs to the score before Santner fell for 11 off 6 balls with one four and one six to his name thanks to a brilliant run out by Hardik Pandya with the direct hit at the bowler’s end. Zakary Foulkes came out to bat next.
Foulkes too played his shots and chipped in but it was the Daryl Mitchell show as he haunted India and played the perfect role of a finisher. The duo added 19 runs for the 7th wicket before Foulkes departed for 13 off 6 balls with one four and one six to his name to Arshdeep Singh as Rinku Singh took another catch in the deep. Matt Henry came in with two overs to go and score 182/7 in 18 overs.
But it was the set batter Daryl Mitchell playing all the shots while Henry managed to get a lucky boundary away off Bumrah as well. Mitchell finished with a flurry and powered New Zealand past the 200-run mark. New Zealand added 33 runs in the last 2 overs as the Kiwis finished with 215/7 in 20 overs. Mitchell remained unbeaten on 39 off 18 balls with 2 fours and 3 sixes to his name while Henry remained unbeaten on 6 off 3 balls with one boundary to his name as New Zealand finished with 215/7 in 20 overs with 5 extras given by the fielding side.
For India, it was a tough day with the ball. Arshdeep Singh was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/33 in 4 overs. Kuldeep Yadav finished with figures of 2/39 in 4 overs and bowled decently. Jasprit Bumrah finished with 1/38 in 4 overs. Ravi Bishnoi finished with 1/49 in 4 overs. Harshit Rana finished with miserable figures of 0/54 in 4 overs. No usage of Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube with the ball by India tonight. This meant India needed a mammoth 216 runs to win the match and take a 4-0 lead in the 5-match series.
Shivam Dube’s magical half-century goes in vain as Mitchell Santner’s 3-wicket haul downs India by 50 runs
Chasing 216 for the win, Abhishek Sharma and keeper batter Sanju Samson came out to bat for India while Matt Henry took the new ball for New Zealand. India got off the worst possible start as star batter Abhishek fell for a golden duck, the first ball of the innings as Devon Conway took the catch running in at deep third man. Captain Suryakumar Yadav came out to bat next.
Surya and Samson tried to stitch together some partnership but could only muster 9 runs for the second wicket before Surya was prized out for 8 off 8 balls with 2 fours to his name to Jacob Duffy who took a good catch. Rinku Singh came out to bat next. Sanju and Rinku started to rebuild the proceedings for India and accelerated as well as much as they could. Sanju looked good and got a start but couldn’t kick on as much as he would have liked. The powerplay score for India was 53/2 in 6 overs and were playing catch-up in the contest as we headed towards the middle phase of the game.
The duo of Samson and Rinku put on an important 46-run stand for the third wicket before Samson fell as he was clean bowled exposing the stumps to Mitchell Santner the captain for 24 off 15 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name. Hardik Pandya came out to bat next. Hardik didn’t hang for long as he fell for 2 off 5 balls after adding 8 runs to the score as he fell to Santner yet again. Shivam Dube came out to bat next and got off the mark straightaway with the maximum.
Rinku also looked good but got stuck in the wicket for a bit. But he did well to get a score in the middle. The duo put on 19 runs for the 5th wicket before Rinku fell for 39 off 30 balls with 3 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Zak Foulkes. Harshit Rana came out to bat next as India were in all sorts of trouble at 82/5 in 10.3 overs. What followed next was the Shivam Dube show as he single-handedly kept India’s glim hopes alive in this match.
Dube showed his range hitting and took on the Kiwi bowlers head on. He was unstoppable to say the least and reached his fifty in just 15 balls. Dube hit 29 runs off a Ish Sodhi over and Vizag crowd was buzzing to say the least. While Dube was there, India had hopes albeit glimmer of hope. Rana was taking singles and playing dots but was hanging in there. The duo put on 63 for the 6th wicket off 27 balls before Dube was run out unfortunately at the bowler’s end for a magnificent 65 off 23 balls with 3 fours and 7 sixes to his name. Ravi Bishnoi came out to bat next.
Bishnoi managed to get a boundary away through a reverse sweep for a boundary. The duo added 12 runs for the 7th wicket before Rana’s misery was over for 9 off 13 balls with one boundary to his name to Ish Sodhi. Arshdeep Singh came out to bat next and fell for a silver duck as Sodhi had two in the over and the score was 157 when those two wickets fell. Jasprit Bumrah came out to bat next.
Bumrah got off the mark with a boundary off Sodhi through midwicket. Bishnoi and Bumrah added 5 runs to the scoreboard before Bumrah fell for 4 off 2 balls with a boundary to his name to Mitchell Santner. Kuldeep Yadav came out to bat next and got off the mark as well. The winning moment soon came as after another addition of 3 runs Kuldeep fell for 1 off 3 balls to Jacob Duffy as Seifert completed the catch. Bishnoi was unbeaten on 10 off 10 balls with one four to his name as India were bowled out for 165 in 18.4 overs. Just 3 extras given by the New Zealand team.
The New Zealand bowlers bowled well and out bowled the Indians. Mitchell Santner the captain was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 3/26 in 4 overs. Ish Sodhi supported him well with 2/46 in 4 overs. Jacob Duffy finished with 2/33 in 3.4 overs. Zak Foulkes finished with 1/29 in 3 overs. Matt Henry finished with 1/24 in 3 overs. Glenn Phillips finished with 0/7 in 1 over. So, New Zealand win by 50 runs and now the score-line is 3-1 in India’s favour. Tim Seifert was awarded the Player of the Match award.
What Lies Ahead
So, New Zealand pull one back with this huge win by 50 runs and the score-line of the series is now 3-1 in India’s favour. The fifth and final T20I will take place in Thiruvananthapuram as the Greenfield International Stadium is set to host both the teams on 31st January, 2026 from 7 PM IST onwards. Will it be 4-1 for India, or will it finish 3-2 with New Zealand winning that contest as well.
Find the answer out on Saturday night when the series finale takes place.
Also Read: IND VS NZ: Tim Seifert’s Blitzy Half-Century Powers New Zealand To 215/7.