IND vs NZ, 4th T20I: India’s batters falter after Seifert siege to hand Kiwis first win
India’s batting juggernaut finally stumbled as New Zealand’s bowlers mastered dew to beat India by 50 runs to register its first win of the series at the ACA-VDCA Stadium on Wednesday. Shivam Dube’s lone onslaught lit up a packed house on a cool evening in the City of Destiny, but ultimately proved in vain.
A blistering opening assault from Tim Seifert and a late surge from Daryl Mitchell bookended a decisive middle-overs squeeze by India, as the Kiwis piled on 215/7 after being asked to bat.
Seifert was handed an early reprieve when a leading edge fell safely beyond a backpedalling Jasprit Bumrah. The Indian pace battery paid a hefty price as a result. A stand-and-deliver blow straight down the ground took the Kiwis past the 50-run mark.
India found a momentary breather when a wandering dog halted the onslaught. Devon Conway’s urge to go up a gear then proved costly as he holed out to Rinku Singh at deep cover. Bumrah then caught Rachin Ravindra off his own bowling.
Seifert attempted to reignite the charge but misjudged Arshdeep’s change of pace and perished at long-off, once again finding Rinku. Kuldeep Yadav then lured Glenn Phillips for a hit down long-on, where Rinku covered 14 metres and timed his leap to perfection.
New Zealand’s repeated searches for Rinku almost became a running theme. The fielder’s fourth catch of the night ended Zakary Foulkes’ stay. Mitchell, though, was unfazed, smashing 27 runs off nine balls in the final two overs to propel New Zealand to its second-highest T20I total against India.
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Snapping up Abhishek Sharma for a golden duck and Suryakumar Yadav for a single digit score was a shot in the arm for the Black Caps.
Sanju Samson and Rinku consolidated aggressively as India got out of the PowerPlay with 50 chipped off the target.
Santner then struck twice, beating Samson on the outside edge to rattle the middle stump, and drawing Hardik for a failed slice to Foulkes at backward point. Rinku also fell, leaving India with a climbing asking rate.
But Shivam Dube adamantly infused hope, pummeling Ish Sodhi for 29 runs, and bringing up a half-century in 15 balls. But he couldn’t finish the job, as the ball deflected off Henry’s hand from Harshit Rana’s shot and caught him stranded well outside.
In hindsight, the decision to play one batter short – Arshdeep replacing the injured Ishan Kishan – left India short on firepower to stage a late surge.
Published on Jan 28, 2026
