Overview
- Tim Seifert’s 62 and Devon Conway’s 44 set up New Zealand’s 215-7 before Mitchell Santner’s 3-26 helped bowl India out for 165 to cut the series deficit to 3-1.
- Suryakumar Yadav said the selection was intentional, with five specialist bowlers and a chase-first approach to assess scenarios and give World Cup squad members game time.
- Shivam Dube’s 23-ball 65, including a 15-ball fifty, was India’s standout effort, while Rinku Singh made 39 and Sanju Samson reached 24 in a brief return to runs.
- India’s depth and spin questions persisted, with recent scrutiny on Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy’s returns and an expensive outing for Ravi Bishnoi, even as Jasprit Bumrah and Arshdeep Singh produced useful middle-overs spells.
- Ishan Kishan missed the match with a niggle as Arshdeep Singh came in, Shreyas Iyer remained unused with management focusing on World Cup-listed players, and the series finale is set for January 31 in Thiruvananthapuram before the tournament begins on February 7.