Hamilton: Ishan Kishan and captain Shreyas Iyer starred with strong half-centuries as India posted 191/8 in the fifth and final T20I of the series against New Zealand at Seddon Park here on Sunday.
Kishan (61) and Iyer (50) put up a 93-run partnership for the third wicket and helped the visitors recover from the early hiccup they suffered after losing openers Abhishek Sharma (1) and Sanju Samson (4) cheaply.
Later, Naman Dhir (33) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (22) came up with mini cameos to lead the Men in Blue, but they would feel that India were a little short at the end of the innings as they kept losing wickets.
Adam Milne, who has a strong record in Hamilton, starred with 4-19 in his four overs, while Nathan Smith and the incoming Blair Tickner also picked up a couple each to not let India go past 200.
India were also handed lifelines from a couple of drops from the Kiwis and a no-ball from Nathan Smith, but they could not make the most of the chances and hence fell short in the end. Apart from a 93-run stand for the third wicket and a 46-run partnership for the sixth wicket by Naman and Nitish, there was not much to celebrate for the Men in Blue.
India were asked to bat first as they lost the toss for the first time in the series. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma came out to open as both the openers struggled.
New Zealand seamers extracted early seam movement as Abhishek was dismissed in the second over by Adam Milne, before Sanju Samson’s struggling stay of four from 10 balls came to an end in the fourth over when he hit a leading edge off Milne to be caught at covers.
Ishan and Iyer rebuilt things in the powerplay and the middle overs. Their strong stand of 93 from 43 balls for the third wicket bailed India out from the poor start to the powerplay.
The visitors were 50/2 after six overs, but then came the firing punches from both the batters. Kishan dominated New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner after the powerplay, surviving off a brilliant attempt from Finn Allen at the long-on boundary, where he tried catching the ball on rebound after stepping outside the boundary. However, his right foot was believed to be on the ground when he was in contact with the ball.
Kishan and Iyer made the most of the middle phase and launched Michael Bracewell for a 27-run 10th over as Tickner dropped Shreyas on the fourth ball.
He returned and amended by removing Kishan, caught at deep mid-wicket, before Smith bounced out Shreyas on a short ball for Tim Seifert to pouch it as the Kiwis made a comeback.
Smith then overstepped when he initially had Tilak Varma caught at point, but he removed him in the same over off a short ball for a caught and bowl.
With Dhir and Nitish still around, India kept the scoreboard ticking, and Dhir was dropped by Milne at sweeper cover in the 16th over. The runs came, but Dhir was dismissed by Tickner in the 19th over, and Nitish followed suit in the final over. Bhuvneshwar hit a four, but India ended on 191/8 in the end.
Brief Scores: India 191/8 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 61, Shreyas Iyer 50; Adam Milne 4-19, Nathan Smith 2-28) against New Zealand.
–IANS–
