HAMILTON, Feb 10: New Zealand denied India a perfect finish to their highly successful tour Down Under by clinching the T20 series 2-1 with a narrow four-run win in the series-deciding third match here on Sunday.
India savoured a historic Test and ODI bilateral series win in Australia before recording their biggest ODI series win on New Zealand soil.
A first ever T20 series win would have been an icing on the cake but the hosts held their nerves to pull off a thrilling victory. With Sunday�s result, India have lost their first T20 series after winning nine and drawing one.
India needed to knock off a stiff 213-run target to bring curtains on a memorable three-month tour in a befitting manner but fell just short.
Exploiting batting friendly conditions at the small Seddon Park ground, New Zealand cut the Indian attack to shreds to post an imposing 212 for four. Opener Colin Munro produced a 40-ball 72 and shared a 80-run stand with fellow opener Tim Seifert (43) to lay foundation for a big score.
Krunal Pandya was the most expensive of the Indian bowlers, bleeding 54 runs in his four-over quota. If it was not for left-arm Chinaman Kuldeep Yadav�s (2/26) tight bowling in the middle-overs and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/37), India would have got a bigger target to chase.
India captain Rohit Sharma, who usually bats explosive in such situations, made a 32-ball 38 and it also hurt India�s chances. Vijay Shankar (43 off 28) played an important knock though at the top after Shikhar Dhawan (5) fell early.
Rishabh Pant (28 off 12) and Hardik Pandya (21 off 11) infused some life into India�s chase with some brutal hitting but perished while trying to keep up with a steep scoring rate. Mahendra Singh Dhoni (2 off 4) also could not do much.
India needed 16 runs off the final over and Dinesh Karthik (33 not out off 16) after taking a double off the first ball, stunned the crowd and his team-mates by refusing to take a single in the third ball. Krunal (26 not out off 30) had reached the striker�s end but Karthik did not run, sending his partner back.
scorecard
New Zealand: Tim Seifert st Dhoni b Kuldeep 43, Colin Munro c Hardik b Kuldeep 72, Kane Williamson c Kuldeep b Khaleel 27, Colin de Grandhomme c Dhoni b Bhuvneshwar 30, Daryl Mitchell not out 19, Ross Taylor not out 14. Extras: (LB-4 W-3) 7. Total: (For 4 wickets in 20 overs) 212. Fall of wickets: 1-80, 2-135, 3-150, 4-193. Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-37-1, Khaleel Ahmed 4-0-47-1, Hardik Pandya 4-0-44-0, Krunal Pandya 4-0-54-0, Kuldeep Yadav 4-0-26-2.
India: Shikhar Dhawan c Mitchell b Santner 5, Rohit Sharma c Seifert b Mitchell 38, Vijay Shankar c de Grandhomme b Santner 43, Rishabh Pant c Williamson b Tickner 28, Hardik Pandya c Williamson b Kuggeleijn 21, Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Southee b Mitchell 2, Dinesh Karthik not out 33, Krunal Pandya not out 26. Extras: (LB-1, W-11) 12. Total: (For 6 wickets in 20 overs) 208. Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-81, 3-121, 4-141, 5-145, 6-145. Bowling: Mitchell Santner 3-0-32-2, Tim Southee 4-0-47-0, Scott Kuggeleijn 4-0-37-1, Blair Tickner 4-0-34-1, Ish Sodhi 2-0-30-0, Daryl Mitchell 3-0-27-2. � PTI
