Published: January 28, 2026 at 10:50 pm
The series was done and dusted but New Zealand were not yet through with their campaign. On Wednesday night, the visitors pulled off a 50-run win over India in the fourth T20I at the Dr YSR ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
This was a near-perfect game for the Kiwis. Their batters were able to tee off and post a tall total. Their bowlers then nipped the challenge quite early. New Zealand came all guns blazing after being asked by Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav to bat first. Openers Devon Conway and Tim Seifert set the tone for the match with a blistering 100-run partnership. They took just 49 balls to reach the century mark with Seifert scoring 56 of those and Conway getting 44.
Conway was caught by Rinku Singh, who had a good day on the field bagging four catches in the outfield, off Kuldeep Yadav after making a 23-ball 44 which contained four boundaries and three sixes.
Siefert was the third wicket to fall after Rachin Ravindra (2) did little on the day. Siefert was caught by Rinku of left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh but by that time he had scored a 36-ball 62 with seven fours and three sixes.
Though India came back after the early onslaught, they were not able to restrict the visitors below 200.
Glenn Phillips scored a 16-ball 24 with three fours and a six and down the order Daryl Mitchell, who was the hero for New Zealand in their first ODI series triumph in India earlier this month, hammered three fours and two sixes in his 18-ball unbeaten 39 which helped the visitors reach 215 for seven.
“Coming here and playing a good side, to bounce back shows a lot about the character of this group. The confidence is a big part of this. We had the belief we were not too far. A couple of good knocks challenged them. Good to have a complete performance tonight,” said Matt Henry.
The Indian reply was in contrast to their rivals. India lost their star batter Abhishek Sharma off the first ball of the innings. The southpaw was caught by Conway of Matt Henry for another duck in the series.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav had a rare failure in the series as he was caught and bowled by Jacob Duffy for 8.
Rinku Singh scored 39 off 30 balls with three fours and two sixes and Sanju Samson made a 15-ball 24 with three fours and a six but India were still in the dock. They were reduced to 82 for five before Shivam Dube and Harshit Rana revived the innings with a 63-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
Dube was at his smashing best as he struck three fours and seven huge sixes in his 23-ball 65 but it was too good to last. Dube was run out by Henry and there ended India’s challenge. The hosts were bowled out for 165 in 18.4 overs.
Wanted to challenge ourselves: SKY
“We purposely played six batters. Wanted to have five bowlers and challenge ourselves. We wanted to play the players who were part of the World Cup squad. We have been batting well batting first. Wanted us to see how we bat when two or three down while chasing 180-200. With heavy dew, one or two partnerships like Dube batted, one partnership could have made a difference,” said Suryakumar Yadav.
SCOREBOARD
New Zealand: Devon Conway c Rinku b Kuldeep 44, Tim Seifert c Rinku b Arshdeep 62, Rachin Ravindra c & b Bumrah 2, Glenn Phillips c Rinku b Kuldeep 24, Mark Chapman c Rana b Bishnoi 9, Daryl Mitchell (not out) 39, Mitchell Santner run out (Pandya) 11, Zak Foulkes c Rinku b Arshdeep 13, Matt Henry (not out) 6; Extras: (B1, LB1, W3) 5. Total: (For seven wickets in 20 overs) 215.
Fall of wickets: 1-100, 2-103, 3-126, 4-137, 5-152, 6-163, 7-182.
Bowling: Arshdeep Singh 4-0-33-2, Harshit Rana 4-0-54-0, Jasprit Bumrah 4-0-38-1, Ravi Bishnoi 4-0-49-1, Kuldeep Yadav 4-0-39-2.
India: Abhishek Sharma c Conway b Henry 0, Sanju Samson b Santner 24, Suryakumar Yadav c & b Duffy 8, Rinku Singh lbw Foulkes 39, Hardik Pandya c Foulkes b Santner 2, Shivam Dube run out (Henry) 65, Harshit Rana c Ravindra b Sodhi 9, Ravi Bishnoi (not out) 10, Arshdeep Singh c Santner b Sodhi 0, Jasprit Bumrah c Sodhi b Santner 4, Kuldeep Yadav c Seifert b Duffy 1; Extras: (W3) 3. Total: (All out in 18.4 overs) 165.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-9, 3-55, 4-63, 5-82, 6-145, 7-157, 8-157, 9-162.
Bowling: Matt Henry 3-0-24-1, Jacob Duffy 3.4-0-33-2, Zak Foulkes 3-0-29-1, Ish Sodhi 4-0-46-2, Mitchell Santner 4-0-26-3, Glenn Phillips 1-0-7-0.
