Williamson’s Test outing against England was his final bow.
| Photo Credit: AP

Ishan Kishan’s thrill-a-second maiden T20I hundred compensated for Sanju Samson’s familiar failure, and the knock in conjunction with Arshdeep Singh’s fifer scripted India’s 46-run romp over New Zealand in the fifth and final match here on Saturday.

India thus sealed the series 4-1, and wrapped up their preparations to defend the T20 World Cup title on a highly satisfactory note.

Once India made a humongous 271 for five, riding on Kishan’s (103, 43 balls, 6×4, 10×6) and skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s (63, 30b, 4×4, 6×6), only the margin of victory was needed to be known.

The Kiwis fought gamely in pockets, but eventually finished with 225 all out. For India, pacer Arshdeep regrouped from his early travails to take a delightful five-wicket haul (5/51).

He had conceded 40 runs in his first two overs for the wicket of Tim Seifert, but then took four wickets in the next three overs for a mere 11 runs.

Fin Allen (80, 38b) played a powerful innings upfront but the target was always outside the Kiwis’ grasp.

Allen, the top-scorer in the recently concluded Big Bash League, carried that form to the Greenfield Stadium.

The right-hander put pacer Arshdeep through the shredder, collecting two fours and a six in the opening over of the Kiwis’ innings.

Soon, Allen clubbed the Indian pacer for 4, 4, 6, 4, 4 in his second over to make 23 runs in total.

Allen, who reached his sixth T20I fifty in 22 balls, fell to returning left-arm spinner Axar Patel (3/33), ending a second wicket alliance of 100 runs with Rachin Ravindra (30, 17b).

In fact, both the spinners — Axar and Varun Chakravarthy (1/36) — did a commendable job in reining in New Zealand after the Power Play.

There was no real life in New Zealand’s chase once Allen went back with wickets falling at regular intervals.

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Samson Fails Again

But none entertained a full weekend house more than Kishan on a sultry evening, who came in after the early departures of Samson and Abhishek Sharma.

Opener Samson (6), whose fifth successive failure in this series now casts a huge shadow over his T20 World Cup prospects could not get going, falling to pacer Lockie Ferguson.

If he needed a more ominous sign then Kishan later kept the wickets too, giving a hint to the Indian team management’s thinking ahead of ICC showpiece, starting in a week’s time.

Abhishek (30 off 16 balls) gave a solid start but extra pace from Ferguson did him in as India went through a relatively tepid power play phase — 54 for two.

Ishan Kishan
Photo Credit: PTI

But those were the only moments of joy for New Zealand during India’s innings after the hosts elected to bat.

For the rest of the innings, they were treated with utter disdain by Kishan and Suryakumar during their 137-run third wicket stand which came in just over 10 overs.

Kishan, who missed the fourth T20I with an unspecified injury, showed no trace of rust, putting the New Zealand bowlers through the wringer with his fast hands and nimble feet.

The left-hander started his carnage, smashing Ferguson for a four and six over extra over and the runs never really stopped thereafter.

Kishan brought his 50 in 28 balls with a four off Ish Sodhi and Suryakumar, who also completed 3000 runs in T20Is, went past the mark in two fewer balls with a six off Jacob Duffy.

Kishan, who completed 1000 T20I runs, was severe on Sodhi, creaming the leg-spinner for 29 runs in the 12th over and the sequence of his big-hits read — 4, 4, 4, 6, 4, 6.

Suryakumar departed in between, getting stumped by Tim Seifert while giving a charge to his opposite number and left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner.

But that did not deter Kishan.

The Jharkhand man soon reached the cherished three-figure mark in 42 balls — a six off Santner took him to 97 and the subsequent one carried him past the landmark, which he celebrated with gusto before melting into Hardik Pandya’s bear hug.

Kishan’s second fifty came off just 14 balls.

From a team perspective, India made 189 off the last 11 overs at an economy of 17.18 runs per over.

The Kishan show finally ended when he was taken at square leg by Glenn Phillips off Duffy, and walked back to the hut accompanied by cheers and whistles.

Pandya’s strong hits (42 off 17 balls) towards the end ensured that India went past the 250-run mark for the fourth time in their T20I history.

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.

New Zealand’s Will O’Rourke. File.
| Photo Credit: AFP

New Zealand fast bowler Will O’Rourke has been ruled out of the second cricket test against Australia with a hamstring strain.

Ben Sears, who has played 13 Twenty20 internationals for New Zealand but is uncapped in tests, has been called into the squad and is likely to play in the match which starts Friday at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

In other injury news, opener Devon Conway will undergo surgery after damaging his left thumb during the T20 series against Australia, which will lengthen his absence from the New Zealand team to at least eight weeks.

New Zealand coach Gary Stead said O’Rourke will be out for up to four weeks and said Sears had impressed.

“Ben’s a young bowler with a quality skill set,” Stead said. “He bowls with genuine pace and gets good bounce which is always a great asset in red ball cricket.

“We’ve been really impressed by his performances for the Black Caps in white ball cricket this summer and believe he can make the step up to the test arena if called upon.”

Stead said the New Zealand selectors had not considered recalling Neil Wagner, the veteran seamer who retired from test cricket last week after missing selection for the first test.

“We reconsider a number of things,” Stead said. “But we thought in this case that the pace of Ben Sears and what he’s brought to us in international cricket so far is the difference that we needed.”

Australia leads the two-test series 1-0 after winning the opener at the Basin Reserve by 172 runs.

The hard-working and durable New Zealand fast bowler Neil Wagner has announced his retirement from test cricket at 37. File
| Photo Credit: AP

An emotional Neil Wagner announced his retirement from international cricket on February 27, after the fast bowler was left out of New Zealand’s team for the first Test against Australia this week.

Wagner fought back tears as he told reporters he had decided to call time on a 64-Test career after New Zealand Cricket said he would not be in the side for Thursday’s match in Wellington.

“It’s never an easy time to do something like this, but the time has obviously come,” said the 37-year-old Wagner, who has taken 260 Test wickets.

“It’s been amazing to represent the Black Caps. It’s been some of the proudest moments of my life.

Fiery short-ball specialist Wagner said he would leave the squad before the start of next week’s second Test in Christchurch.

“I’m looking forward to one final week in camp and will be doing everything I can to help prepare and support the boys,” he said.

Wagner cited last year’s one-run victory over England in Wellington, where he took the last wicket to draw the series, as among his career highlights along with winning the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021.

“I’ve enjoyed every single moment of playing test cricket for the Black Caps and am proud of everything we’ve been able to achieve as a team,” he said.

Wagner made his New Zealand debut in 2012 after arriving from his native South Africa four years earlier.

“To the New Zealand public and the fans, I can’t thank you enough, for your support, for making me feel welcome, for making me feel like a Kiwi,” said Wagner.

Only Richard Hadlee, current captain Tim Southee, Daniel Vettori and Trent Boult have taken more Test wickets for New Zealand than Wagner.

New Zealand head coach Gary Stead said on Tuesday that Wagner was “one of the greats”.

“He has been through an incredible era and been a huge cog of the bowling attack over the years.

“We’ll remember his lion-heartedness, the way he just kept finding a way to make something happen.”