Fresh off winning the series in the first three matches of the five-match series, Team India were given a brutal reality check as New Zealand, with nothing to lose, outplayed the Men in Blue in all facets of the game to win by 87 runs and reduce the scoreline to 3-1 in India’s favour. India have won the series alright but delivered a flat performance. It was as if they were not up for it and did not arrive in the contest, while New Zealand showed determination to win and salvage some confidence within themselves.
There were multiple areas where India were found wanting, and we will try and ascertain them for you right here.
Inability to have answers to the Glenn Phillips-Michael Bracewell onslaught hurt the Indians.Â
India again won the toss and elected to bowl first and got Tim Seifert early again. Daryl Mitchell looked threatening and got out. Finn Allen got a start before getting out, while Bevon-John Jacobs too did not trouble the scores at all. Glenn Phillips was extra special with his ton, but the Men in Blue were doing a fine job in chipping away at the wickets. The Kiwis were 112/4 in 10.4 overs, and the match was still in the balance at this stage when Michael Bracewell came out to bat.
What followed was pure carnage from the Kiwi batters. Bracewell took the attack to the Indians. He was the aggressor of the two, while Phillips too was in the zone. It was attack from both ends if we are being brutally honest. Bracewell tore apart anyone who came his way, while Phillips took 32 in an over from Nitish Kumar Reddy. The duo was at their brutal best as they put on 115 runs off 41 balls as the Indian bowlers looked clueless against them. Barring Arshdeep, everyone went for runs. Mayank, Prince, Nitish, and Axar Patel were taken to the cleaners.
Indian bowlers really need to go back to the drawing board to find solutions because whenever a team attacks Indian bowlers, they seem to have no answers to their questions. It’s happened in Auckland and it’s happened in the past as well. Indian bowlers are a work in progress in limited overs cricket, and they have a long way to go in being a finished bowling unit. One hopes the Indians produce a better bowling effort in Hamilton.
Losing 4 wickets in the power play dented India’s chances badly
India conceded 259 runs and had a mountain to climb in the chase. Chasing 260, India needed a fast, solid start in the power play. What they got was the total opposite. Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan fell in the same over to reduce India to 4/2/ Thereafter, Shreyas and Abhishek built some sort of a partnership and took the score to 50 before Abhishek fell. Soon Shreyas too fell to leave the team in tatters, 4 down in the powerplay.
Once you lose 4 wickets in the power play, you seldom win a game. When you lose 4, then it’s catastrophic, as it can be. From hereon, India were always playing catch-up cricket. They kept on losing wickets and deserved to lose by a bigger margin. But Tilak played a strange but effective innings, a run a ball 35 to make sure India batted 20 overs and lost by 87 runs. But the match was a foregone conclusion, and we just had to wait for the protocols to be completed.
It was an off-day and flat performance from India with the bat and with the ball. The Men in Blue just did not arrive in Auckland, it seemed. As they head to Hamilton, which is a 90-minute drive from Auckland, India needs to treat this as a wake-up call and reality check before their last T20I match, the final game in Hamilton. One hopes India put in a strong performance to end with a win in the final match.
Strange Tactics by captain Shreyas Iyer exposed him as well
Notwithstanding a poor bowling display by the Indian bowlers, we also saw some strange captaincy calls by Shreyas Iyer in the field. Too many experiments were done. Not using the right bowler at the right time was also an issue that he had to contend with. The bowlers bowled badly, but when attacked by Phillips and Bracewell, Iyer seemed to have no idea in place whatsoever. That was the biggest issue for India. The captain looked at everyone for answers.
Nitish Kumar Reddy went for 32 runs in an over, but Iyer still used him for 4 overs as he went for over 60 runs. He used Naman Dhir for a token one over, and he went for 18 in that as well. All decisions taken by Shreyas Iyer went against him and India. Mayank bowled decently. Prince tried to come back well while Arshdeep tried to keep it tight, but Iyer, using different bowlers and being whimsical, did not help their cause.
Shreyas Iyer, the batter, got a start and got out. It’s high time the captain comes to the party and gets runs. The ODI series is not far away, and if Shreyas continues in the same vein of form, then it could mean trouble for the Indian cricket team. Shreyas needs to contribute in the ODIs, and so he needs some runs in the shortest format. So, looking ahead to the fifth T20I, India will want Iyer to get his tactics right and get the runs as well for India to do well and help themselves. India will aim to win 4-1.
What Lies Ahead
So, we are all set for the final chapter of the T20I series. The fifth and final T20I is set to be played at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday, 1st November, 2026, from 12:30 PM IST. The series score is 3-1 in India’s favour. The Men in Blue will aim to make it 4-1 with a bounce-back win in Hamilton, while the Kiwis will hope to make it 2 wins in a row and take much-needed confidence into the ODI series starting next week.
It’s so much to play for as we approach the 5th T20I in Hamilton tomorrow.
Also Read: NZ VS IND: Glenn Phillips’ Impressive 3rd T20I Ton Destroyed India.