Seven runs. That was the gap between Tim Seifert and a century when a thick inside edge off Nitish Kumar Reddy crashed into his leg stump at Seddon Park on Sunday. The New Zealand opener walked off on 93, shaking his head, and the Hamilton crowd rose anyway. They knew what they had just watched. So did India.
The India vs New Zealand 5th T20I ended with New Zealand winning by seven wickets, chasing down 192 with 12 balls to spare. India still took the series 3-2, but the last word of the T20I leg belonged to the hosts, and it was a loud one.
Seifert turned a chase into a procession
New Zealand lost Finn Allen in the second over and, briefly, the chase looked like work. Then Seifert took over. He smashed 93 off 50 balls, with 11 fours and five sixes, per CricToday, and put on 73 with Daryl Mitchell for the second wicket. By the time he fell, seven short of a first T20I hundred, the asking rate had stopped being a question.
Glenn Phillips did the rest. The Player of the Series finished unbeaten on 65 off 38 balls and, per Reuters, took New Zealand home without any late drama. The final margin, 195 for 3 in 18 overs, flattered India slightly. For most of the second innings, this was not close.
India recovered, then stalled, then paid
Mitchell Santner won the toss and bowled first, and for a while that looked like a gift to India. The visitors were 19 for 2 before Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer rebuilt. Kishan hit 61 off 32 balls, Iyer made 50 off 23, and their 93-run stand dragged India to a total that felt competitive.
Then Adam Milne happened. The fast bowler took 4 for 19, per Reuters, and New Zealand’s death bowling squeezed India to 191 for 8. Nathan Smith and Blair Tickner took two wickets each. A total that had looked like 210 at the halfway mark ended up about 20 short, and on a ground where chasing is the easier job, 20 short is plenty.
How the India vs New Zealand 5th T20I flipped the series story
Here is the part that should worry India more than the defeat itself. Our preview of this game had flagged exactly one problem India had not solved all series: Glenn Phillips. He finished the series with 341 runs, the most any batter has ever scored in a bilateral T20I series, passing Phil Salt’s 331, per Reuters. India tried pace at him, spin at him, and plans that changed every game. None of it stuck for long.
Seddon Park helped the hosts, as it usually does. New Zealand had already won 11 of their 14 T20Is at the ground before Sunday, and this win extends that record further. Small boundaries, a true pitch, dew late on: it is a ground built for chases, and New Zealand chased like a team that knew it.
The consolation for India is real, not cosmetic. They won the first three games in three different ways, sealed the series in Wellington with two games to spare, and gave Nitish Kumar Reddy a game along the way. A 3-2 series win in New Zealand is a good result by any honest measure. But a team does not usually celebrate a trophy while losing the last two games by 87 runs and seven wickets, and the dressing room that flies to Auckland will know the difference between the two feelings.
The tour moves on now. The five-match ODI series starts on Wednesday at Eden Park in Auckland and runs to November 15, followed by two Tests. India leave Hamilton with the trophy. New Zealand leave with the last two games and the louder dressing room. Wednesday will tell us which of those two things matters more.