Seven runs needed off six balls. Seven wickets in hand. Ross Taylor, who has played more T20 matches than the rest of his side combined, on strike. Unfortunately, New Zealand did lose from that kind of position again, ESPN reports
New Zealand sent out Tim Seifert and Colin Munro, their half-centurions from earlier in the evening, to outsmart Jasprit Bumrah in the Super Over. In Hamilton, New Zealand failed to defend 17 in the shootout. Here, they scrambled to 13 after Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul failed to latch on to skiers.
There, Tim Southee sat on haunches as Rohit Sharma muscled him for two sixes to win the game. On Friday, he took the ball again, this time trying to deny Rahul and Virat Kohli. He saw the first two balls being clobbered for 10, and had Rahul caught at deep square leg off the third. India needed four off three.
Where New Zealand slogged when faced with this equation in regulation time, Kohli calmly nudged the ball towards mid-on, who was right at the edge of the ring, to scamper back for a second with Sanju Samson. With two needed off two, Kohli lent the finishing touches with a muscular pull to the midwicket fence as India completed another remarkable win, to lead the series 4-0.
In Hamilton, the first ball off the final over was a juicy full toss that Taylor walloped over deep midwicket. Here, Thakur delivered an excellent slower ball. Taylor went for his favourite hitting arc but dragged it to Iyer in the deep. From three off four, they tried to steal a bye, only to be outsmarted by Rahul, who was ready with his gloves off to effect an underarm flick to catch Tim Seifert short after he had made what should have been a match-winning 57.
The pressure was on Mitchell Santner as he took strike. It was his superb catch off Kohli earlier in the evening that triggered a panic of sorts for India. His middle-order slow down with Ish Sodhi - they finished with four for 52 off eight overs - helped restrict India to 165. After all that, he still had to win it with the bat. With three needed off three, he picked a single towards midwicket and slipped while turning for the second.
Two runs. Two deliveries. The pressure is on the bowler. He misses by an inch and it could be curtains. Here, Thakur calmly lands a superb knuckleball on a length, gets it to deviate just a wee bit. Santner goes for a glory hit and slices it to Shivam Dube at mid-off. Mayhem. Tension.
This was Sanju Samson's opportunity to prove why he should have been an automatic pick on tour, and not as an injury replacement. However, the shot he played - a slog across the line in the third over after hitting the most gorgeous flick that there is - was forgettable. He had the full 20 overs at his disposal, but fell in the second.
Then the New Zealand spinners got into the act. Much before he came on to bowl, Santner left a mark in the fifth over. After Kohli had first flicked and then ramped Hamish Bennett for successive boundaries, Santner leaped towards his right to grab a leading edge and send back India's captain.
Southee, leading in Kane Williamson's absence, then turned to Sodhi in the seventh over and he struck off his third delivery to remove Iyer with a googly. Off his next over, he had Rahul holing out to deep midwicket for 34. He soon had his third when Shivam Dube was out slogging to long-on for 12.
