NZ vs IND: 4th T20I Review – Kiwis choke again in Super Over
New Zealand choked again, managing to lose the match from a winning position in the fourth T20I in Wellington. Needing 166 to win, the Kiwis lost 4 wickets in the final over to treat the crowd to another Super Over. In the nail-biting finale, it was the same story all over again as India romped home to take a commanding 4-0 series lead. The Kiwis will not have to recover from another heartbreak against a jubilant India during the 5th T20I on 2nd February.
Check out the full scorecard here
Pandey helps India to a competitive score
On a surface greatly assisting the bowlers, India had to endure a nervy start. Sanju Samson getting his opportunity made a quick walk back to the pavilion. Virat Kohli soon followed suit and Shreyas Iyer too could not continue his good form. The Shivam Dube experiment failed again as well, leaving all the onus on Manish Pandey to bat alongside the lower order.
The Karnataka batter took the challenge head-on, despite finding himself in a precarious situation with the score on 88-6. He first established a vital 43 run stand with Shardul Thakur which steadied the ship. His innings was one of great maturity, perfectly assessing the situation. He rotated the strike consistently while punishing the bad deliveries. Then came the final flourish, as he brought up a deserved half-century in the final over, to take the visitors to an improbable score of 165-8. With such knocks, Pandey is making a strong case to be a permanent fixture in limited-overs cricket.
Seifert shines before Kiwis choke again
The last time Tim Seifert played India at Wellington, he came up with a blistering knock of 84 to guide his team to a win. History repeated itself again at the Sky Stadium as he was again the difference between the two sides. After a steady start, the Kiwis lost two successive wickets, including the settled Colin Munro. In Williamson’s absence, Seifert was promoted to No.3 and cashed in big time to take the Kiwis home.
Along with the experienced Taylor, he put up a stand of 62, to edge the hosts closer to a victory. His knock of 57 left the Kiwis knocking on the doorsteps of victory. But New Zealand have cultivated a bad habit of losing matches from winning positions. And it cost them again big time. Requiring a mere 7 runs off the final over, the Kiwis choked again to lose 4 wickets in the final over from Shardul Thakur. This resulted in the contest being tied and we had another Super Over on our hands.
Rahul, Kohli finish the job
Batting first, New Zealand managed to come up with a score of 13 in the Super Over. There were a few close calls in the over from Bumrah, who was a bit unlucky with mishits not finding the fielders. Yet, scoring 14 in an over was not a tough ask for an Indian batting lineup full of superstars.
KL Rahul and Virat Kohli walked out to bat to chase the score down with Tim Southee again taking the responsibility with the ball. The game was all but over in the first two deliveries as Rahul played a couple of cracking shots to hit a 6 and a 4. Going for glory, Rahul attempted another big hit but was caught in the deep. But Kohli displayed all his craft, by scoring a cheeky couple on the fourth delivery before finishing things with a flourish on the fifth ball. As India celebrated an improbable win, the Kiwis were left reeling from their 6th loss in 7 Super Overs.
