India celebrate as the Black Caps fall apart in the final over. Photo / Photosport
India celebrate as the Black Caps fall apart in the final over. Photo / Photosport
Give the Black Caps some credit – at least they're finding innovative, entertaining ways to lose cricket matches.
In a game which started in January and ended in February, New Zealand ushered in the new month by absurdly being beaten in yet another Super Over, for a second straight game.
After the horror in Hamilton, this time it was the wreck in Wellington, as the Black Caps lost four wickets in the final over to be consigned to another Super Over, where, surprise surprise, they lost again, succumbing to their fate at the appropriately nonsensical time of 12.10am.
All they needed was three measly runs, from four measly balls, but the Black Caps completely butchered the final stages once more, crumbling down in an array of skied shots and run outs. Mitchell Santner required two runs off the final ball, but could only slap it to deep point for a single, and once the Super Over began, the Wellington crowd may as well have gone home.
Tim Seifert, Colin Munro and Ross Taylor made 13 from their allotted six balls – aided by two dropped catches – but for the fifth time in his career, Tim Southee couldn't come up trumps with the ball, as KL Rahul bashed 10 off the first two balls before Virat Kohli did the rest, taking another victory to go 4-0 up in a series which keeps getting worse for the Black Caps.
India celebrate as the Black Caps fall apart in the final over. Photo / Photosport
Not only was the final over disastrous, and the Super Over worse, but it once again should never have got to that point. At one stage, the Black Caps needed just 12 from 14 balls, with seven wickets in hand, but they were unable to overhaul India's mediocre 165-8.
The two culprits from Hamilton – Tim Seifert and Ross Taylor – undid their earlier good work by failing to see New Zealand home yet again, and with skipper Kane Williamson sidelined with a minor left shoulder injury, there was nobody able to play the hero.
In some ways, the ridiculous – and frankly for the neutral, darkly amusing – manner of defeat will overshadow any realistic improvements from the match, and there were a few.
While game three destroyer Rohit Sharma was rested, the Black Caps did a fine job restricting India's other dangerous hitters. Kohli mustered 11, replacement opener Sanju Samson just eight, and the in-form KL Rahul was removed for a 26-ball 39, with Santner sensational in the field, claiming all three catches.
Mitchell Santner celebrates a catch with his Black Caps teammates. Photo / Photosport
Santner bounced back with the ball as well, claiming 1-26, though the star was his spin partner Ish Sodhi, who took 3-26 to expose India's weak lower order. Their last two recognised batsmen added 43 for the seventh wicket, but had to do so with caution, as seamers Southee (1-28), Scott Kuggeleijn (1-39) and Hamish Bennett (2-41) all contributed. Eventually, Manish Pandey's unbeaten 50 off 36 balls got India through to 165-8, and it was a total which looked far more competitive after the Black Caps' sluggish start.
Through five overs, they had battled to 23-1. Martin Guptill's worst innings of the series saw him contribute just four from eight balls, while Colin Munro couldn't find his timing, at one stage sitting on eight from 15.
India's bowlers had dominated Munro all series when cramping him for space, but suddenly they lost their line. Shardul Thakur was smacked for 14 from three balls, and Washington Sundar saw a full toss sent over the rope as he quickly found some form.
Munro's fifty came up off 38 balls as the Black Caps rebuilt their innings, needing just 74 from nine overs with nine wickets in hand, but of course, it was never going to be that easy.
Tom Bruce takes a catch on the boundary while tumbling over teammate Daryl Mitchell. Photo / Photosport
A moment of madness from Munro saw him run out for 64, after a relay throw from the deep saw Kohli hurl down the stumps to stun an unwitting Munro, who had relaxed thinking the ball was heading to the other end. Then, when Tom Bruce was bowled around his legs for a third ball duck, the Black Caps found themselves still needing 59 from 37 balls.
Seifert (57 from 39) and Taylor (24 from 18) slowly guided the Black Caps to a position where they required seven from the final over, but, just like in Hamilton, neither could finish the job. Taylor was caught in the deep from the first ball of Thakur's final over, then after a Daryl Mitchell boundary, Seifert was run out attempting a frantic bye, leaving Santner alongside Mitchell with three required from three balls.
The resulting failure to secure victory surprised nobody, and in a telltale sign of just how grim things have quickly become for the Black Caps, the eventual Super Over result was just as predictable.
