Despite a 99-run stand between Tim Seifert and Ross Taylor, New Zealand failed to chase down 164 against India as the visitors completed their first-ever 5-0 whitewash in a T20 international series with a 7-run win in the final T20I at the Bay Oval in Mount Maungania
Apart from the wonderful recovery from the Seifert (50) and Taylor (53), the two highlights of the New Zealand innings were the batting collapse at the start of the chase and after the dismissal of Seifert.
Getting off to the worst possible start, New Zealand lost the wickets of Martin Guptill (2), Colin Munro (15) and Tom Bruce (()) within the Powerplay overs. After the dismissal of the Seifert, the hosts failed to recover as they lost 5 wickets for 17 runs.
When Seifert was dismissed, New Zealand were placed comfortably at 116/3 in the 13th over but by the time Ross Taylor was dismissed the side lost all their hopes, as they were reeling at 113/8 in the 18th over.
For India, Jasprit Bumrah was back to his usual self as the speedster came up with his best performance since his return to the side. He finished with excellent figures of 3 for 12 in his 4 overs.
Meanwhile, KL Rahul captained the side in the second half of the innings after Rohit didn’t take field due to a calf injury.
Earlier, continuing their good run with the bat, KL Rahul (45) and Rohit Sharma (60) forged a 88-run stand for the second wicket after Sanju Samson once again failed to make capitalise on the opportunity given at the top of the order. In the process, India posted 163/3 in their 20 overs against New Zealand.
Rohit Sharma, who is leading the side in the absence of Virat Kohli, brought up his 21st century while Rahul was unlucky to fall five runs short of his fifty.
After his fifty, Rohit Sharma had to leave the field due to his calf injury. But a 31-ball 33 from Shreyas Iyer made sure India post a competitive total to make it a rare 5-0 whitewash against New Zealand.
Meanwhile, India won the toss and opted to bat and Sanju (2) came out to open the innings with Rahul but the best he could manage was hitting a half-volley from Kuggeleijn straight to Mithell Santner at the cover.
Meanwhile, skipper Virat Kohli decided not to take the field at Bay Oval. For New Zealand, Kane Williamson is yet to recover from his shoulder injury and Tim Southee will continue to lead the side.
“We thought of making a few changes, but the combination we played in the last game was very good and we want to continue with that and give them a longer run,” said skipper Rohit Sharma at the toss.
“Just the one change - I come in for Virat and Sanju will open. I will bat at three.”Rohit Sharma
Despite the loss in Wellington, New Zealand have decided to go with an unchanged XI.
India have pocketed the five-match and have an unassailable lead of 4-0. In the process, they won their first T20I series in New Zealand and are now eyeing a rare 5-0 whitewash.
The last two T20Is in the series went down to the Super Overs, with India prevailing during both occasions.
Playing XI
New Zealand: Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Tim Seifert (w), Ross Taylor, Tom Bruce, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tim Southee(c), Ish Sodhi, Hamish Bennett
India: Lokesh Rahul(w), Sanju Samson, Rohit Sharma(c), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Navdeep Saini, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah
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