Visakhapatnam: Tim Seifert, Devon Conway and Daryl Mitchell led the charge with the bat with blistering knocks to power New Zealand to 215/7 against India in the fourth T20I at the ACA-VDCA Stadium on Wednesday.
Seifert gave New Zealand a flying start in the powerplay by attacking India’s pacers to set the tone for top-scoring with 62 off 36 balls, laced with seven fours and three sixes. Conway provided steady support with 44 off 23 deliveries, studded with four boundaries and three maximums as the pair raced towards a century stand before Kuldeep Yadav removed him and halted the momentum.
Though India clawed back in the middle overs, with Kuldeep and Arshdeep Singh picking two wickets each, Mitchell ensured New Zealand had a strong finish by hitting 39 not out off 18 balls, laced with two fours and three sixes, to push New Zealand past the 210-run mark. India, a batter short in this contest due to Ishan Kishan picking a niggle, will need another strong chase to maintain their unbeaten run in the series.
Inserted into batting first, Seifert set the tone from the very first over by hitting Arshdeep for three successive boundaries. By the fourth over, Seifert had already hammered Rana by hammering him for sixes over long-on and fours going over extra cover fence.
Conway, at the other end, took his time before opening up with a boundary steered past third man in the fourth over. Even as Conway hammered Kuldeep and Ravi Bishnoi for two fours and as many sixes, Seifert brought up his fifty in just 25 balls – joint fastest for a New Zealand men’s batter against India.
After the pair raised the first 100-plus opening stand for New Zealand against India in T20Is since 2017, Kuldeep struck when Conway mistimed loft to extra cover, while Jasprit Bumrah dismissed Rachin Ravindra caught and bowled via a slower ball. The bowling change worked well for India when Arshdeep accounted for Seifert, while Kuldeep had Glenn Phillips holing out to long-on as New Zealand slipped to 137/4.
Mark Chapman and Mitchell Santner tried to rebuild but the former fell to Bishnoi, before the latter was run out by Hardik Pandya’s direct hit. Zakary Foulkes provided some relief with a six and a four off Arshdeep but perished soon after to the pacer.
Mitchell then took charge in the death overs by smashing Bumrah for a six and two boundaries in the 19th over and continued his assault against Rana by carting him for a six and four to finish unbeaten on 39 off 18 balls, as New Zealand crossed the 200-run mark, while Rinku stood out for India with his four catches in the outfield.
Brief Scores: New Zealand 215/7 in 20 overs (Tim Seifert 62, Devon Conway 44; Arshdeep Singh 2-33, Kuldeep Yadav 2-39) against India
(IANS)
