Team India scripted history as they thumped New Zealand in Super Over to take a 4-0 series lead in five-match series at Westpac Stadium in Wellington on Friday. Virat Kohli and his troops had earlier won the third T20I in similar fashion and this is the first time in history that two successive matches have ended in a tie, let alone victories for a team in back-to-back Super Overs.
Chasing 166, New Zealand were coasting at one stage before the hosts imploded to be restricted to 165/7. Needing 7 runs off Shardul Thakur’s last over, the Kiwis buckled under pressure and lost four wickets as India took the match into the Super Over for the second consecutive game.
This is how the Super Over panned out:
Ball 1: Jasprit Bumrah bowls a length delivery and Tim Seifert hits the ball high in the air on the leg side. Shreyas Iyer tries his best to reach the ball but eventually fails to collect it. (2 runs)
Ball 2: Bumrah bowls a length delivery again and Seifert mistimes the ball over mid-off for a boundary. (4 runs)
Ball 3: Bumrah bowls a short delivery and Seifert top-edges it. Wicket-keeper KL Rahul goes for the catch but fails to collect it. (2 runs)
Ball 4: Bumrah bowls a slow length delivery and Seifert hits top-edges it again. This time, he is caught by Washington Sundar at third man (Out).
Ball 5: Bumrah bowls a slower one and Munro cuts it for a boundary past the point fielder. (4 runs)
Ball 6: Bumrah bowls fast yorker and Murno goes for the paddle sweep. He fails to make proper contact with the ball as it bumps into the hands of Navdeep Saini at backward short leg. (1 run)
India’s target: 14
Ball 1: Tim Southee bowls a length delivery and KL Rahul hits the ball into mid-wicket stands for a huge six. (6 runs)
Ball 2: Tim Southee bowls a short delivery and KL Rahul pulls it over backward short leg fielder for a boundary. (4 runs)
Ball 3: Tim Southee bowls a short delivery and KL Rahul top edges it. Scott Kuggeleijn completes the catch at deep mid-wicket. (Out)
Ball 4: Tim Southee bowls a length delivery and Virat Kohli nudges the ball straight down the ground and takes a double. (2 runs)
Ball 5: Tim Southee bowls a short delivery and Virat Kohli hits a pull short for a boundary to seal India’s victory. (4 runs)
A target of 166 was always going to be tough to defend, but the Indian bowlers had started well, dismissing the dangerous Martin Guptill in the fifth over of the innings with the score on 22.
Munro and Seifert though combined beautifully to keep the required rate under check. But their 74-run partnership ended against the run of play when Virat Kohli hit the stumps direct as the Kiwis tried to sneak in a second. With the ball headed towards the mid-wicket boundary, Munro and Seifert looked comfortably placed to run a second.
But Shardul rather than throwing the ball directly to the keeper or bowler, passed it to Kohli at mid-wicket and the skipper hit the stumps direct at the batsman’s end as Munro was left stranded.
The dismissal in the 12th over was the first time that the Indians sniffed a chance as Yuzvendra Chahal then sent back Tom Bruce (0) in the next over. But Seifert then combined with Taylor to keep the Kiwis in a comfortable zone.
With 70 required off 50 balls, the duo got stuck into Chahal in the 15th over and picked 17 to ease the pressure. But in the end, it was another choke at the death for the New Zealand batsmen.