New Zealand vs India, 2020, 4th T20I- Who Said What

Prior to the fourth game against India, New Zealand had won six T20Is on the trot at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington. In the ongoing series, having conceded the series in Hamilton, the hosts tended to stutter even in the penultimate encounter. After Hamilton, the match again witnessed a Super Over. And once again, the Kiwis couldn’t get over the line, giving India a 4-0 lead in the series.

India huff and puff

The visitors had their travails throughout after being put in to bat first. Sanju Samson started by clearing the ropes before Scott Kuggelejin picked him up. Mitchell Santner’s stunning catch accounted for Virat Kohli’s wicket. Shreyas Iyer had an off-day after being stumped off Ish Sodhi. KL Rahul held his ground and was starting to look ominous, having scored 39 runs off 26 deliveries.

To his dismay, Sodhi picked him up with a half-tracker. Shivam Dube and Washington Sundar perished cheaply and India were reduced to 88 for six in 11.3 overs. From there, Manish Pandey took charge and helped the Men in Blue to a competitive 165 in 20 overs. He ended with 50 off 36 with three fours. The Kiwis’ spinners were tough to get away as Sodhi and Santner had economy in the 6s.

Seifert strains every sinew

The Black Caps made a sedate start to their run-chase. In the first five overs, they managed 23 runs and lost the wicket of Martin Guptill to Jasprit Bumrah. But the last over of the powerplay changed the course of the match. Colin Munro smacked Shardul Thakur for 6,4,4 in the first three balls to inject momentum into the innings. He along with Tim Seifert (57) put on a stand of 74 off 44 balls.

Seifert got to his second T20I fifty off 32 deliveries. It eventually needed a stupendous direct-hit from Kohli to send Munro back. After the left-hander’s wicket, Ross Taylor scored 24 and got out in the last over with seven runs required. Rahul threw down the stumps to get rid of Seifert. With two runs needed off the last ball, Santner was run out and the game went into yet another Super Over.

Yet another Super Over loss for New Zealand

Seifert and Munro came out in the one-over eliminator and had to counter Bumrah. In the first ball itself, Iyer dropped Seifert, who smacked a four in the very next delivery. In the third ball, Rahul grassed Seifert’s chance. Seifert eventually got out to Bumrah, but the Kiwis managed 15 runs.

Yet again, Southee took charge in the Super Over and Rahul deposited him for an over-boundary. Rahul followed it up with a boundary and brought the target down to a run-a-ball. Rahul holed out to Kuggelejin in the deep on the leg-side, but Kohli smacked a four to bring the curtains down.

Shardul Thakur, the Player of the Match, said

You couldn’t ask for anything more. This is what we play for, these nail-biting finishes. After the last game, we learned that we should never lose hope. If I bowl a dot ball or a wicket ball, the pressure is on them.

It was important to stretch the partnership in the middle, and should have carried on until the 19th and 20th over, so hopefully next time things turn out better for me.

Virat Kohli, the Indian skipper, said

There’s something new that I’ve learnt, that you’ve just got to stay calm in the game, observe what’s happening and if the opportunity comes then you capitalize on it. The fans couldn’t have asked for a better finish i two consecutive games. We hadn’t played super-over before, and now we have played two back to back.

It feels good when you’re out of the game and get yourself back in, it really shows the character of the team. Initially Sanju and KL were supposed to go given they can strike the ball well, but I went in because I was more experienced and in a pressure situation it was important for me to handle things. The two strikes off the first two balls were important and then I thought I’d get the ball in the gaps and get the job done.

I haven’t been part of a super-over for too long but happy to have got my team across. I thought Sanju was fearless. This was his chance to take thing away. I think Washy has played a lot, and Saini rushed the batsmen. We didn’t read the pitch well, after after the first six he got carried away. Everyone looked in good headspace. We were playing well in the situation looking at how well the opposition played. We are very proud of how we went about our business today.

Tim Southee, the New Zealand skipper, said

It is very tough. To get ourselves the position we got today and then give them a chance… India grabbed it with both hands. When you got a young bowling attack, it’s a critical decision (to bowl the Super Over) from a number of people. You make it tough on yourself when you a sniff to teams like India.