NZ vs IND 5th T20I: Seifert's 93 and Phillips' 65 chase down 192 as India win series 3-2
New Zealand beat India by 7 wickets in Hamilton, with Adam Milne taking 4 for 19. India still take the series 3-2. Full match report and key numbers.
New Zealand chased down 192 to beat India by seven wickets in the fifth and final T20I at Seddon Park, Hamilton, on Sunday, 1 November. Tim Seifert hit 93 off 50 balls and Glenn Phillips finished unbeaten on 65, but India had already done enough earlier in the tour and take the series 3-2.
The match was one of the most searched sporting events in Pakistan on Sunday morning, with Finn Allen and Arshdeep Singh both trending on Google as the high-scoring finish played out.
India’s innings: 191 for 8
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner won the toss, for a change in this series, and bowled first. Ishan Kishan made 61 off 32 balls with five fours and five sixes, and Shreyas Iyer hit a quick fifty, with four sixes. Naman Dhir chipped in with 33. India reached 191 for 8, but it could have been far more.
The reason it wasn’t was Adam Milne. The fast bowler took 4 for 19 in his four overs on a ground where almost everyone else went at nine or ten an over, and was named Player of the Match. Nathan Smith and Blair Tickner took two wickets each.
New Zealand’s chase
It started badly. Finn Allen, the name half of Pakistan was searching, went for 2, out to Arshdeep Singh early on. Seifert then took over. He added 73 for the second wicket with Daryl Mitchell, who smashed four sixes in his 29 off 16 before a diving catch by Abhishek Sharma at long-off removed him off Varun Chakravarthy.
Phillips and Seifert then put on 86 off 42 balls. Seifert fell seven short of a hundred to Nitish Kumar Reddy in the 16th over, with 11 fours and five sixes to his name. Phillips finished it with a boundary, ending on 65 not out off 38 balls with eight fours and three sixes.
Key numbers
- India: 191/8 (Kishan 61, Iyer 50, Dhir 33; Milne 4-19)
- New Zealand: 195/3 (Seifert 93, Phillips 65*, Mitchell 29)
- Result: New Zealand won by 7 wickets; India won the series 3-2
- Player of the Series: Glenn Phillips, 276 runs in five matches
Why Pakistan fans should care
Both sides are among Pakistan’s main rivals in white-ball cricket, and this series was a useful look at India’s batting depth and New Zealand’s pace options on home pitches. For Pakistan, fresh from beating Sri Lanka in the tri-series final, Milne’s control at the death on a flat Hamilton pitch is the kind of thing bowling coaches will be studying.
