Shivam Dube flickered brightly with a fifty of exceptional quality but it was insufficient to prevent India’s 50-run defeat against New Zealand in the fourth T20I here on Wednesday.
The clean-hitting Dube 65 (23 balls, 3×4, 7×6) batted all but his own in India’s steep chase of 216, but the hosts eventually finished at 165 all out as the Kiwis reduced the margin to 3-1 in the five-match series.
With Ishan Kishan sitting out with an unspecified injury, Abhishek Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav were expected to lead the chase.
But Abhishek fell in the first ball of India’s innings, skying Matt Henry to Devon Conway at deep point.
Suryakumar’s meek push was converted into a brilliant return catch by Jacob Duffy as India slumped to 9 for 2.
Rinku Singh (39) and Sanju Samson (24) tried to keep India afloat but they struggled to force the pace either in the Power Play or after that.
Rinku fell leg before to Zak Foulkes and Samson, who hit a delicious flicked six off Duffy, was foxed by Mitchell Santner’s straight delivery to get castled.
Hardik Pandya too returned without any significant contribution as India further slipped to 82 for five in the 11th over, leaving Dube and Harshit Rana (9) to save the day.
Dube batted fearlessly, and hardly displayed the pressure of an ever-climbing asking rate that hovered around 14 almost all the while.
Dube, who was saved by DRS from a leg-before decision on 46, raised the hopes in the Indian camp, biffing 29 runs off leg-spinner Ish Sodhi’s third over that included a sequence of 4, 6, 4, 6, 6.
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The left-hander brought up his fifty in just 15 balls with a six over square leg off Duffy. The sixth wicket of Dube and Harshit Rana added 63 runs and the latter’s contribution was a princely four runs.
But Dube’s fortune finally deserted him when Rana’s rasping straight drive shattered the stumps at non-striker’s end after taking a deflection off Henry’s hand.
That effectively signalled the end of India’s chase.
Earlier, New Zealand’s innings revolved around Tim Seifert’s blistering fifty.
Seifert (62 off 36 balls, 7×4, 3×6) was the standout Kiwi batter but he did not have enough followers to fully drive home the advantage after India produced tight bowling in the middle overs.
Seifert, who joined the team after appearing in the recent Big Bash League, did not hide his intention, smoking Arshdeep Singh for three fours in a row, although two of them were off edges.
But in the next over, the right-hander smashed Rana for a six over long-on, showcasing his muscle and timing.
In the pacer’s next over, Seifert eked out a six and four in successive balls before sending a Jasprit Bumrah delivery to the sight-screen for another maximum.
New Zealand reached fifty in the fourth over and ended the Power Play at 71 for no loss.
Seifert’s frenetic innings also helped Devon Conway (44) to settle down and then have a go at the Indian bowlers.
After meandering to 9 off 9 balls, the left-hander found his range, plundering two fours and a six off Ravi Bishnoi — a loft between long-on and mid-wicket, a square cut and a slog sweep.
Conway made 35 runs off the next 13 balls but soon holed out to Rinku Singh at deep cover off Kuldeep Yadav, as the home side snapped a 100-run opening wicket alliance.
Seifert soon completed a 25-ball fifty but India found a small creek on the door, and soon snaffled four wickets in the space of 37 runs to reduce the Kiwis to 137 for four in 13.4 overs.
The Indians did not bowl any magic spell but the visiting batters were overly eager to maintain a run rate of 12 that the Seifert-Conway combine was scoring at.
But that overzealous attempt resulted in them losing wickets in a cluster. Daryl Mitchell (39 not out, 18b) made some strong hits in the death overs to take New Zealand past 200.
