Wellington T20I: Another Super Over win for India, another heartbreak for New Zealand

India vs New Zealand, 4th T20I: New Zealand suffered their 6th straight Super Over defeat in international cricket as the hosts choked under pressure to conceded 4-0 lead in the ongoing series.

HIGHLIGHTS

• India hand New Zealand 2nd successive Super Over defeat in 3 days
• India have sealed a 4-0 lead with the final T20I set to be played on Sunday
• Virat Kohli and KL Rahul shone in the Super Over for India

Another Super Over, another heartbreak for New Zealand!

India sealed a 4-0 lead in the ongoing 5-match T20I series with their 2nd successive Super Over win against New Zealand. After the match ended in a tie with both the teams finishing with 165 runs in 20 overs, India gunned down a 14-run target in the Super Over to inflict another heartbreak on the hosts in Wellington.

There was plenty of drama on Friday in Wellington as Navdeep Saini and Shardul Thakur did what Mohammed Shami did in Christchurch 2 days ago to force the 2nd successive Super Over in the ongoing T20I series.

New Zealand just needed 11 runs in the last 2 overs as they were looking set to seal a comfortable win, chasing 166 in the 4th T20I.

However, Saini came up with a top-class penultimate over, conceding just 4 runs and putting pressure on New Zealand who have made it a habit to choke in high-pressure situations.

With just 7 runs needed to seal the consolation win in the final over, the responsibility of bowling the last over was handed to Shardul Thakur as Jasprit Bumrah had already completed his quota of 4 overs.

Shardul delivered in style. W. 4. W. 1. W. 1. W read the figures in the final over as India picked up 4 wickets, including that of well-set Tim Seifert and Ross Taylor, to force a tie and a Super Over.

KL Rahul, Virat Kohli shine in Super Over

In what was their 8th Super Over in international cricket (7th in T20I cricket), New Zealand batted first and made 13 runs. Jasprit Bumrah was once again tasked with the responsibility of bowling the Super Over and the India pacer did better than Wednesday wherein he gave away 17 runs.

Tim Seifert survived a couple of catching opportunities to make 6 before he was caught in the deep in the 4th ball of the Super Over. Colin Munro hit a boundary before New Zealand took the tally to 13 with a single in the final ball.

Chasing 14, KL Rahul sealed the deal for India with a six and a boundary in the 1st 2 balls before getting out in the 3red ball. However, Virat Kohli stayed calm and took India past the finish line.

Munro, Seifert hit form for New Zealand

Having already sealed the series 3-0, India made an array of changes to their playing XI as they rested Rohit Sharma, Mohammed Shami and Ravindra Jadeja while New Zealand were without their captain Kane Williamson who was out with a shoulder strain.

Chasing 166, Colin Munro shook off poor form and set New Zealand a strong platform, smashing 64 from just 47 deliveries. The left-handed opener who was struggling to get going in the 1st 3 matches of the series hit 6 boundaries and 3 sixes as he took the attack to India pacers in the powerplay.

Jasprit Bumrah, who was tonked for plenty, came back with a top spell in the powerplay, conceding just 4 runs and picking up the wicket of Martin Guptill but it wasn't enough to tie down the New Zealand duo of Munro and Tim Seifert.

Having sealed an opportunity to bat higher up the order, wicketkeeper-batsman Seifert shone with the bat as he led New Zealand's charge after Virat Kohli completed a stunning run out of Munro to bring India back into the game.

Manish Pandey proves his worth in the middle-order

Earlier in the day, India got off to a poor start with Sanju Samson throwing his wicket away as early as the 2nd over of the match. Samson, who replaced the rested Rohit Sharma, flaunted his natural talent by hitting Scott Kuggeljin for a six into the mid-wicket stands. However, he perished while trying to clear the Sky Stadium boundary in the same over.

KL Rahul carried on his fine run with the bat as he helped India race to 48 inside the 5th over before they lost Virat Kohli. The India captain was just warming up after hitting Hamish Bennett to a couple of boundaries in the 5th over but the New Zealand bowler got the big wicket with a slower ball.

Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner, apart from finishing with figures of 1/26, was electric in the field as he took two stunning catches to send back Samson and Kohli.

India kept losing wickets at regular intervals as Shreyas Iyer (1) and Shivam Dube (12) failed to get going, putting pressure on KL Rahul. Rahul, who was looking set for another fifty, missed out on the opportunity after hitting a half-tracker from Ish Sodhi straight into the hands of deep mid-wicket fielder in Santner.

Sodhi shone with the ball, picking up 3 wickets in 4 overs after giving away just 26 runs.

With Washington Sundar, who replaced Ravindra Jadeja in the side, getting out without troubling the scorers, India were in a tatters, reeling at 88 for 6 but Manish Pandey bailed the team out with a high-quality knock.

Manish, who walked in at No.6, stitched a 43-run stand with Shardul Thakur who once again chipped in with a handy knock.

Pandey was unbeaten on 50 from 36 balls having hit just 3 boundaries as he helped lift India's total past 160. Fast bowler Navdeep Saini hung around as he added 11 runs to the total from just 9 balls.