Mount Maunganui: Will Young cashed in on two early let-offs to hammer a 108-ball 125, while Tim Seifert struck a blazing 58 off 48 deliveries, as New Zealand posted 333 in their 50 overs against India in the fourth ODI at the Bay Oval on Friday.
Asked to bat by skipper Shreyas Iyer, New Zealand went well past the venue’s average first-innings total, despite losing four wickets in the last ten overs. India now need to complete a stiff target if they are to secure an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-game series.
Young’s 125, his fifth ODI ton and first against India, was laced with 14 fours and four sixes, while Seifert’s 58 was studded with six boundaries and three sixes. For India, Axar Patel, Gurnoor Brar and Auqib Nabi took two wickets each, while Arshdeep Singh and Naman Dhir had one apiece. Kuldeep Yadav, playing his first game on the tour, went wicketless by conceding 73 in eight overs.
Young got New Zealand going with a boundary pristinely timed off the final ball of Arshdeep’s opening over. Seifert then took charge by driving Auqib Nabi for four and dispatching the free-hit that followed a no-ball for a pulled six.
The same over brought India’s first fielding lapses of the day. Rohit Sharma grassed a straightforward chance at slip off Young, and Ishan Kishan failed to hold another outside edge on the very next ball, leaving Nabi stunned.
Seifert showed little mercy thereafter, lofting Gurnoor Brar for six over long-on in the pacer’s first over, while exchanging words with him soon after, and took 15 runs off a Nabi’s over before bringing up his maiden ODI half-century off 42 balls in the 10th over. He became the first New Zealand batter to reach fifty inside the opening 10 overs of an ODI against India.
New Zealand were 72/0 at the end of the powerplay, but Brar had the last laugh in the 12th over when Seifert top-edged a short ball and Kishan ran to his left and dived to take a fine catch. Brar’s send-off was so animated that Virat Kohli had to pull him away from the batter, and umpire Chris Brown later had a word with the tall pacer.
The 85-run opening stand was followed by a mini-wobble. Axar Patel had Nick Kelly stumped for four, and Nabi removed Dean Foxcroft (8) with a well-directed bouncer and fine leg caught the top-edge.
Young, who reached his fifty in the 20th over, found an aggressive partner in Finn Allen. The pair added 90 runs for the fourth wicket, plundering 19 runs off Kuldeep in the 26th over that included a free-hit six. Axar broke the stand when Rohit dived to his right at short cover to send Allen back for 41.
Young marched forward to bring up his century off 88 balls in the 32nd over. It was his first ODI hundred since making 107 against Pakistan at the 2025 Champions Trophy. He later survived a blow to the helmet grille while attempting a reverse-sweep, and India also lost a review against him.
His innings ended when substitute fielder Kumar Kushagra held on to a catch at the second attempt when Young attempted to slog-sweep against part-time off-spinner Naman Dhir. Dhir then ran in from deep backward square leg to take a sharp catch and give Brar the wicket of Michael Bracewell (15) and leave New Zealand at 258/6.
Mitchell Santner, dropped by Rohit off Dhir previously, struck the off-spinner for two sixes before Arshdeep had him caught behind for 24. Kristian Clarke (22) and Kyle Jamieson, who remained unbeaten on 19, kept the scoreboard moving until Nabi trapped Clarke lbw.
The innings ended with run-outs off the last two balls, with Nabi hitting the stumps directly to remove Matt Henry and Kohli combining with Kishan to run out Matthew Fisher. On a pitch which is still good for batting, onus will be on India’s batters to complete the chase.
Brief Scores: New Zealand 333 in 50 overs (Will Young 125, Tim Seifert 58; Axar Patel 2-39, Auqib Nabi 2-59) against India
(IANS)
