HAMILTON, New Zealand, Nov 1, (Net) : Tim Seifert narrowly missed a maiden international century but did enough to steer New Zealand to a seven-wicket win over India in the fifth and final T20 on Sunday.
Opener Seifert found some form with the bat, blasting 93 off 50 balls as the home side eased to 195-3 off 18 overs, after Adam Milne had earlier taken 4-19 to restrict the target to 192.
The result wasn’t enough for New Zealand to salvage the series, which the tourists won 3-2 after winning the first three games.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner lamented his team’s failure to win either of the first two matches, which were both tight contests in Christchurch, before finding form late in the series.
“I think those small moments in the first couple of games let us down,” said Santner, referring primarily to fielding mistakes, including some important dropped catches.
“We probably could have won those games, or should have, and then the series would have looked a lot different.
“But from a cricketing point of view, there was a lot of really good stuff from our team.”
Seifert had scored just 36 runs across the first four matches but the big-hitting right-hander found his touch at Seddon Park, swinging the game in New Zealand’s favour by blasting 11 fours and five sixes.
He looked devastated when he played on to Nitish Kumar Reddy in the 16th over, having posted an 18th half-century before failing once again to reach three figures.
Glenn Phillips finished on 65 not out to complete an exceptional series with the bat, which included 107 when New Zealand won game four in Auckland on Friday.
Phillips’s 341 runs across the five games was the most scored by any batsman in a bilateral T20 series.
The previous record was held by England’s Phil Salt, who scored 331 runs against the West Indies in 2023.
Earlier, Milne’s pace proved hard to handle as India were restricted to 191-8, boosted by rapid half-centuries to Ishan Kishan and captain Shreyas Iyer.
The pair combined for 93 off 7.1 overs for the third wicket after both openers fell cheaply to Milne, before Kishan departed for 61 and Iyer for 50.
Iyer said India should have pushed on to reach a higher score from
“Kishan and I created momentum but we lost back-to-back wickets,” he said.
“It wasn’t an easy wicket to play on, especially when the ball was seaming, but when you come overseas, you are challenged by different aspects of the game.
“We could have been better with our bowling and fielding – we were a bit sloppy.”
The teams will next contest a five-match one-day international series, starting in Auckland on Wednesday, before playing two Tests.
