SportsCricket
Milne's 4 for 19 holds India to 191 as Seifert goes after the chase at Hamilton
Fifties from Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer put India on course for 220 or more, but Adam Milne and some sharp short-pitched bowling pulled them back to 191 for 8. New Zealand lost Finn Allen early and then hit straight back.
Key points
- India made 191 for 8 in 20 overs in the fifth and final T20I at Seddon Park.
- Adam Milne took 4 for 19 in four overs, bookending the innings with wickets.
- Arshdeep Singh removed Finn Allen for 2, but Tim Seifert took 20 off the sixth over.
Adam Milne turned what looked like a 220-plus innings into a chase New Zealand fancied. The fast bowler took 4 for 19 in four overs at Seddon Park on Sunday as India, who had raced along at better than ten an over in the middle, were held to 191 for 8 in the fifth and final T20I.
New Zealand’s reply started badly and then caught fire. Arshdeep Singh had Finn Allen out for 2 early in the chase, before Tim Seifert and Daryl Mitchell went after the Indian bowlers, taking 20 runs off the sixth over.
How India’s innings turned
Milne set the tone early. Abhishek Sharma skied him to Mitchell in the second over and India were 2 for 1. Sanju Samson followed in the fourth, edging to Michael Bracewell for a laboured 4 off 10 balls, and India were 19 for 2.
What came next was the best batting of the day. Ishan Kishan and captain Shreyas Iyer added 93 for the third wicket off 43 balls. Kishan survived a scare in the seventh over when Finn Allen held a catch at long-on, only for the third umpire to find his foot grounded beyond the rope and signal six. Bracewell’s tenth over then went for 27 runs, with Blair Tickner putting down a simple chance in the middle of the carnage.
Kishan made 61, breaking Suryakumar Yadav’s record for the most T20I runs by an Indian in a calendar year, before Tickner had him caught by Nathan Smith at 112 for 3. Iyer reached his fifty in 22 balls and fell for exactly 50 off 23, with three fours and four sixes, to a short ball from Smith. Tilak Varma, reprieved once by a Smith no-ball, was caught and bowled by Smith in the same over, and India had slipped from 111 for 2 to 133 for 5.
Naman Dhir and Nitish Kumar Reddy rebuilt with a stand of 46 for the sixth wicket. Dhir, dropped by Milne at sweeper cover in the 16th over, hit 33 off 23 before Tickner had him caught by Bracewell at 179 for 6. Nitish made 22 off 17. Milne returned at the death to strike twice in the final over, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s 6 off 4 was the last meaningful contribution.
The chase
New Zealand needed 192 to win. Allen’s early exit gave India a lift, but Seifert answered it in the powerplay. With Mitchell alongside him, New Zealand’s run rate climbed quickly as the chase settled in.
India already lead the series 3-1 after winning the first three matches, and lost the fourth by 87 runs at Eden Park on Friday. A win in Hamilton would let them close a long T20I year with a 4-1 result. New Zealand, who chose to bowl after Mitchell Santner won his first toss of the series, are chasing a second straight win to make it 3-2.