Seifert's 93 Hands New Zealand a Seven-Wicket Consolation Win in Hamilton as India Take T20I Series 3-2

India's tour of New Zealand ended with a defeat on Sunday, but not a damaging one. New Zealand chased down 192 at Seddon Park in Hamilton with seven wickets and two overs in hand, finishing on 195/3 in 18 overs. The result trims the final margin to 3-2, yet the series was already India's after Shreyas Iyer's side won the opening three games in Christchurch and Wellington.

What should concern the Indian camp more than the scoreline is the pattern of the last two matches. New Zealand won the fourth game in Auckland by 87 runs and then took this one comfortably, so India's bowlers were hit hard in both games played after the series had been sealed.

Milne keeps India below 200

New Zealand chose to bowl first and Adam Milne made the decision look sound. He removed Abhishek Sharma for 1 in the second over and Sanju Samson for 4 two overs later, leaving India on 19/2.

Ishan Kishan and Iyer then rebuilt aggressively. Kishan reached his fifty in 31 balls and went on to 61 off 32, with five fours and five sixes, while Iyer brought up a 23-ball half-century. The pair added 92 for the third wicket and took 27 off a single Michael Bracewell over, putting India on course for something well past 200.

The innings stalled once both fell in quick succession. Nathan Smith and Blair Tickner struck in the middle overs, Tilak Varma went for 6, and India slid from 111/2 to 133/5. Naman Dhir (33 off 23) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (22 off 17) added 46 for the sixth wicket before Milne returned to take two wickets in the final over. He finished with 4/19 from his four overs, an outstanding return in a match where India's batters otherwise scored at 9.55 an over.

Seifert takes the game away

Arshdeep Singh gave India an early opening by having Finn Allen caught behind for 2 in the second over, but Tim Seifert never let the required rate climb. He and Daryl Mitchell, who hit 29 off 16 balls, put on 73 for the second wicket before Varun Chakaravarthy removed Mitchell in the ninth over.

Seifert kept going. His 93 came off 50 balls with 11 fours and five sixes, so roughly four of every five runs he made came in boundaries. Nitish Kumar Reddy eventually bowled him in the 16th over with New Zealand on 168/3, seven short of a hundred for the opener but with the chase all but done. Glenn Phillips, whose century had decided the Auckland match, finished the job with 65 not out off 38 balls.

What the series tells India

Taken as a whole, the five matches were a good outcome for an Indian T20 side led by Iyer. Winning three in a row away from home, two of them by four wickets, showed composure in tight finishes. Kishan, who missed the Wellington game through injury earlier in the tour, returned with the innings of the day on Sunday.

The concern is the bowling once the pressure came off. Phillips' century in Auckland and Seifert's onslaught here came against the same attack, and the support seamers struggled to contain New Zealand's power hitters through the middle overs. With Arshdeep, Chakaravarthy and Reddy the only wicket-takers on Sunday, the selectors will want sharper options around the frontline bowlers before the next white-ball assignment.

For New Zealand, the late surge is a useful consolation. Mitchell Santner, who became the country's most-capped men's T20I player in this match with his 143rd appearance, ends the series with two convincing wins and a clearer picture of his top order.

This is an original summary based on public reporting. See our editorial policy for how we source, write, and correct our stories.