It was another fantastic comeback by the Indian team who snatched victory in the 4th T20I played at Westpac Stadium, Wellington on Friday.
New Zealand stand in captain Tim Southee won the toss and decided to field first. Sanju Samson who was given a chance replacing Rohit Sharma could capitalize as he hit a six and then got out playing a big stroke was brilliantly caught by Mitchell Santer. KL Rahul looked in great touch with positive stroke play and made the batting look easy. Kohli who came at number 3 played attacking strokes before being caught brilliantly by Santer. At the end of six overs, India were 51 for 2.
After the power play overs, Ish Sodhi dismissed Shreyas Iyer and the inform KL Rahul to put India under pressure. Shivam Dube poor form in the series continued with the bat as he was dismissed for 12. Playing his first match of the series, Washington Sundar was dismissed for 0 to leave India in trouble at 88 for 6. Manish Pandey looked compact with his stroke play taking singles and hitting occasional boundaries. His partner Shardul Thakur also contributed 20 runs off 15 to add 43 runs for the 7th wicket. Pandey played a great knock reaching his fifty off 36 balls while Navdeep Saini hit 2 boundaries to help India post respectable total of 165 for 8 in 20 overs.
Chasing 166 runs to win, Colin Munro and Martin Guptill had a slow start against Bumrah and Saini. Bumrah produced the breakthrough dismissing Guptill for 4. The New Zealand openers added 22 runs. Colin Munro showed his class against Shardul Thakur smacking boundaries which put Indian bowlers under pressure. At the end of six overs, New Zealand were 39 for 1.
After the power play overs, Munro and Seifert took the attack to Indian bowlers against Washington Sundar and Chahal. Both New Zealand batsmen proved their worth. Munro reached his fifty off 38 balls. With things looking difficult for India, a combination run out by Shardul Thakur and Virat Kohli ended Munro innings. Munro and Seifert added 74 runs for the 2nd wicket. In the next over, Chahal dismissed Tom Bruce to bring India into the game.
Tim Seifert looked impressive with his stroke play and was dropped twice by Navdeep Saini at the boundary and then by Jasprit Bumrah. The Indian fielding was not up to the mark as they missed 3 to 4 run out chances. Seifert reached his fifty off 32 balls. Navdeep Saini bowled a stunning 19th over as he gave 4 runs.
With 7 runs required off the final over, Thakur took the important wicket of Ross Taylor. Taylor and Seifert added 62 runs for the 4th wicket. Darly Mitchell came to the crease and hit a boundary off 2nd ball. KL Rahul ran out Tim Seifert to bring the equation to 3 off 3. Thakur then got the wicket of Mitchell. With 2 runs required off 1 ball, Sanju Samson ran out Santer to force match into Super Over.
In the Super Over, Seifert and Colin Munro came to bat. Seifert was dropped off the first ball by Iyer and then he hit a boundary off Bumrah bowling. Bumrah then dismissed Seifert. Colin Munro hit a boundary and took a single to post 13 runs off the Super Over.
With 14 runs required, KL Rahul hit a six and four off Tim Southee bowling. He then was dismissed trying to finish the game off. Kohli produced the magic hitting a boundary to help India win the match in 2nd successive Super Over.
India 165 for 8 in 20 overs ( Manish Pandey 50*, KL Rahul 39, Ish Sodhi 3/26, Hamish Bennett 2/41) 16 for 1 in 0.5 overs ( KL Rahul 10, Kohli 6*) beat New Zealand 165 for 7 in 20 overs ( Colin Munro 64, Tim Seifert 57, Shardul Thakur 2/33) and 13 for 1 in 1 over ( Seifert 8, Munro 5*) via Super Over.
Shardul Thakur was awarded the man of the match for his superb performance. India takes a 4-0 lead in the 5-match series. The fifth and final match will be played on 2nd February at Mount Maunganui.
