New Zealand looked on course for victory at 116/3, but for the third time in succession, India’s bowlers scripted a remarkable late comeback to earn the visitors a clean sweep, with a seven-run win in Mount Maunganui on Sunday, 2 February.
Chasing 164 in the fifth and final T20I for a consolation win, New Zealand could barely have had a worse start. Martin Guptill, Tom Bruce and Colin Munro all fell inside the first 20 balls of the chase. Guptill was trapped in front by Jasprit Bumrah, Bruce was run out for nought in a terrible mix up with Tim Seifert and Colin Munro was castled by Washington Sundar as he tried to hit him for a third boundary in succession.
India snatch another super over T20 victory against New Zealand
New Zealand clawed their way back in the chase through a measured partnership between Seifert and Ross Taylor. Things started looking a lot more positive for the hosts as the innings progressed, and it seemed like New Zealand had steered the ship their way in the 10th over, when Seifert and Taylor hit four sixes and two fours off Shivam Dube.
The over began with Seifert hammering one over deep mid-wicket. He followed that with a pull over deep square leg for six. Off the third ball he attempted a scoop and got an inside edge to the fine-leg boundary. Taylor then flicked one to deep mid-wicket, and a bit of shoddy fielding from Sundar gave the home team four more. It turned out Dube had even overstepped on that one and Taylor belted the free hit for six more over deep mid-wicket and closed the over out with another hit in the same region. Thirty-four runs came off that over making it the second-most expensive over in all T20I cricket, only behind Yuvraj Singh’s famous six sixes off Stuart Broad in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2007 fixture in Durban.
The required rate dropped to less than seven an over, and the hosts looked destined to win. But that hadn’t counted for much in the last two games for New Zealand when they failed to close out dominant positions, allowing India to tie both games. Losing both those Super Overs may have spurred the duo to take risks to try and close out the game sooner, but the move backfired.
Seifert fell for a well-made fifty when he tried to play a pull off Saini. That wicket was the opening India needed as they took wickets in rapid succession to sink New Zealand from 116/3 to 133/8. Ross Taylor tried to keep things alive and went past his fifty, but when he got a nick to the keeper off Saini in the 18th over, it was all but over for the hosts.
Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers for India, taking 3/12 in his four overs, but Saini’s spell of 2/23, featuring the wickets of both half-centurions was equally decisive.
Earlier, India again lost Sanju Samson early as the batsman, sent in to open ahead of Rohit Sharma, hit a cover drive in the air off Scott Kuggeleijn. The self-imposed demotion to No.3 didn’t seem to affect the captain as he looked steady from the onset. KL Rahul was the aggressor in what was to become a brilliant partnership, but Rohit found the boundary with increasing regularity.
Rahul looked in sublime touch and a lofted-drive over the cover boundary off Tim Southee highlighted just how well he was seeing the ball. His innings of 45, laced with four fours and two sixes, ended when a ball from Hamish Bennett stopped on him to take the leading edge.
Rohit went past his fifty and looked set for a lot more, but pulled up with what seemed like calf discomfort in the 17th over, retiring his innings at 60 off 41 balls, featuring three sixes and as many fours. That was his 25th knock of fifty or more in T20Is, which took him past Virat Kohli for the record.
Shreyas Iyer (33*) found support in Manish Pandey, who struck a six and a four in the last over of the innings to take India past 160.
