Seifert powers New Zealand to victory over India

HAMILTON (Agencies): Tim Seifert narrowly missed a maiden international century but did enough to steer New Zealand to a seven-wicket win over India in the fifth and final T20 on Sunday. Opener Seifert found some form with the bat, blasting 93 off 50 balls as the home side eased to 195-3 off 18 overs, after Adam Milne had earlier taken 4-19 to restrict the target to 192. The result wasn’t enough for New Zealand to salvage the series, which the tourists won 3-2 after winning the first three games. Seifert scored just 36 runs across the first four matches but the big-hitting right-hander found his touch at Seddon Park, swinging the game in New Zealand’s favour by blasting 11 fours and five sixes. However, he looked devastated when he played on to Nitish Kumar Reddy in the 16th over, having posted an 18th half-century but failing once again to reach three figures. Glenn Phillips finished on 65 not out to complete an exceptional series with the bat, which included 107 when New Zealand won game four in Auckland on Friday. Phillips’s 341 runs across the five games was the most scored by any batsman in a bilateral T20 series. The previous record was held by England’s Phil Salt, who scored 331 runs against the West Indies in 2023.

Earlier, Milne’s pace proved hard to handle as India were restricted to 191-8, boosted by rapid half-centuries to Ishan Kishan and captain Shreyas Iyer. The pair combined for 93 off 7.1 overs for the third wicket after both openers fell cheaply to Milne, before Kishan departed for 61 and Iyer for 50. The teams will next contest a five-match one-day international series, starting in Auckland on Wednesday, before playing two Tests.

New Zealand’s captain Mitchell Santner said it was a very tight series. “It was a very tight series. It’s a very good team. Those small moments like you said in the first couple games where, we probably could have won those games or should have. So the series could have looked a lot different. But in terms of a cricketing point of view, there’s a lot of good stuff,” Santner said. “The batting was really well, and then the bowling. Guys adapted brilliantly the last couple games. There’s a lot of positives. Obviously, the scoreline shows 3-2 to India, but could have been the other way around. Bowlers mixing the lengths Yeah, I thought we mixed it up really nicely. Yorker’s wide, a little bit straight with length,” Santner said.

India’s skipper Shreyaz Iyer said it was plausible, honestly.  “We could have been better, considering the start we got in the middle overs, the way Ishan and I recreated the momentum. And then from there on, we lost back-to-back wickets, and then suddenly pressure on the new batsmen,” he said. “It wasn’t an easy wicket to play on, especially when the ball was seeming and holding a bit, and also skidding through at times. You must have seen a couple of time, myself and Tilak we got out in a similar fashion. It was challenging, especially of that hard length, but to get to 194, it was reasonable, I feel. I think we still could have been better with our bowling and fielding. We were a bit sloppy, but great learning,” he said.

Brief scores:

New Zealand 195 for 3 (Seifert 93, Phillips 65*) beat India 191 for 8 (Kishan 61, Iyer 50, Milne 4-19) by seven wickets.