The glorious game of uncertainties indeed. New Zealand needed a run a ball at one stage; it was their game to loose and they lost it in yet another Super Over finish. Spare a thought for them but credit to Kohli and India's never-say-never spirit. Shardul Thakur had an average day with the ball until the surreal final over, where he conceded just six and picked four wickets. What a day of cricket this has been.
Ball 5: Kohli finishes off in style. India win yet another Super Over to go 4-0 up in the series.
Ball 4: Kohli calls for two straightaway and gets the two with ease. 2 to win off 2.
Ball 3; GONE! Southee gets his revenge. Rahul holes out. Kohli on strike. 4 to win off 3. Samson is the new man.
Ball 2: FOUR! KL Rahul gets a four next ball. 10 off the first two.
Ball 1: SIX! KL Rahul hammers the first ball for six. 8 to win off 5.
Tim Southee to bowl the super-over. 14 to win off six. KL Rahul and Virat Kohli to start for the visitor.
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Ball 6: Finishes off with a dot ball. NZ manage to get 13 off six. India needs 14 to go 4-0 up in the series.
Ball 5: Munro sees the width and cashes in: four added to the total.
Ball 4: GONE! A catch at last and Seifert has to depart!
Ball 3: Another drop. This time it's KL Rahul who gets to the ball in time but can't hold on. Two more.
Ball 2: Seifert gets this one away, four added to the Kiwi total.
Ball 1: Nearly a wicket. Iyer gets two hands to the ball but drops it. 2 runs off the first ball.
Super Over: Bumrah will bowl first. Seifert and Munro to open.
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Can you believe it? It's yet another Super Over. Dear Lord! New Zealand just can't get over the line, can they? They've a terrible record in the Super Overs and India will believe it's in with a chance to make it 4-0! Coming back to the final ball, Santner's run-out has produced a second super-over in a row! Six runs and four wickets came off that final over.
Shardul Thakur to bowl the final over. Ross Taylor will be on strike. GONE! Taylor goes for the glory shot and perishes: Iyer taking a fine catch. Seven needed off five. Daryl Mitchell, right handed bat, comes to the crease. Mitchell punishes a genuine half-volley first-up, four to New Zealand. WICKET! Another twist? Seifert tries to steal a single but KL Rahul hits the stumps and New Zealand have lost another one. New Zealand need 3 runs in 3 balls. 2 in 2 balls. Another wicket. WOW! 2 off the final over. Thakur is bowling a surreal final over.
Saini bowling the penultimate over. Just three off his first five deliveries. Excellent from Saini so far. Only four from the 19th. Brilliant bowling from the Delhi seamer. Kiwis need 7 off the final over.
Shardul Thakur is back into the attack. Taylor greets him with a cracking boundary. Eight from it. Kiwis now 18 off 18. Bumrah to bowl out. Seifert gets to his fifty with a boundary. Seven off the over. New Zealand needs 11 runs in 12 balls.
Oh Dear. Could've been two in two for Chahal, instead Saini parries one over the ropes for six and Bumrah's dropped a rather simple chance at short third-man. Taylor makes it 17 off the over with a boundary off the last ball. Jasprit Bumrah is back into the attack. 10 runs from the over. Should be a walk in the part for NZ from hereon. New Zealand need 26 runs in 24 balls
Yuzvendra Chahal is back into the attack. Chahal strikes. Knocks Bruce over and India have two wickets in quick succession. Ross Taylor, right handed bat, comes to the crease. Five runs from the over. Dube continues. Good over for the Kiwis. 11 runs including a six off the final ball. NZ 113/3 after 14 Overs. New Zealand need 53 runs in 36 balls.
Navdeep Saini is back into the attack. Seifert getting into the act now, hammers a 142 kmph delivery to third-man for four. Munro then beats the day light out of a slower ball, scythes it through extra-cover for four. 13 from it. Shivam Dube, right-arm medium, comes into the attack. GONE! Kohli, you beauty. What a superb piece of fielding that: direct hit catches Munro short. Tom Bruce, right handed bat, comes to the crease. NZ 97/2 after 12 Overs. New Zealand need 69 runs in 48 balls
Chahal's bowled a brilliant second over, almost! Seifert ruined an otherwise fine over with a maximum over deep mid-wicket. These two batsmen are now growing in confidence. Munro brings up the fifty stand with a lofted straight drive for four. He also got to his own half-century. Celebrates with a boundary to deep backward point off the next ball. 11 runs from the over. NZ 79/1 after 10 Overs.
Yuzvendra Chahal, right-arm leg break, comes into the attack. End of the seventh over. Just four singles from it. Washington Sundar, right-arm off break, comes into the attack. Seifert greets him with a boundary to sweeper-cover. Munro now slaps a full toss over square-leg for six. 13 from it. NZ 56/1 after 8 Overs.
WICKET! The pressure tells: Bumrah gets rid of Guptill and New Zealand have lost their first wicket. Tim Seifert's the new man in. Excellent from Bumrah. After a rare bad day in the office the last time around, he has roared back: just two runs and a wicket from his second over. Shardul Thakur is back into the attack. Munro collects 10 off the first two: a six and a four. Make that a hat-trick of boundaries. 16 from it. NZ 39/1 after 6 Overs.
Bumrah bowls a perfect first over: just three from it and a near run-out chance as well but Munro survives. Four quality overs from the Indian pacers. Pressure on New Zealand. Munro's six off Saini in the fourth over was a momentary respite. NZ 21/0 after 4 Overs.
Martin Guptill and Colin Munro will start the chase. Guptill takes strike. Thakur with the new ball. Good start from India. Just four off it. Navdeep Saini to share the new ball. Just a five from it including a boundary for Munro. NZ 9/0 after 2 Overs.
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Navdeep Saini has collected 10 off Bennett's final over. India has gone past 150 with Manish Pandey set to take strike for the 20th over. Pandey makes the most of this Slower ball: cracks it through the covers with an angled bat. Pandey brings up his fifty with a single. Fine innings under pressure. Kuggeleijn goes for 11 off his final over. India finishes on 165/8.
Southee bowled a length ball on off, Pandey backed away, opened his bat-face to guide it past backward point for four. Pandey and Thakur added 43 off 30 balls, India collecting 13 off Southee's third over. Thakur meanwhile began the 17th over with a boundary between mid-on and deep mid-wicket before holing out. Pandey, at the other end, biffed one for four by moving leg-side. IND 138/7 after 17 Overs.
Santner and Bennett bowl the 14th and 15th respectively. The last six will be out and out pace with Santner bowling out. Great figures for Sodhi (3 for 26) and Santner (1 for 26). Bennett's bowls a decent second over: concedes eight off the 15th. IND 112/6 after 15 Overs.
Another one bites the dust. Sundar has been clean bowled by Santner . India losing wickets in a heap. Shardul Thakur is the new man in. The onus though will be on Pandey. Thakur meanwhile giving a glimpse of his skills with a deft cut shot for four. Sodhi bowls out: 4-0-26-3. IND 97/6 after 13 Overs.
Mitchell Santner [1.0-0-13-0] is back into the attack. Two singles and a three from it. Sodhi comes back and picks up his third! Dubey is out courtesy a fine catch from Tom Bruce, who evades a collision in the deep. India in trouble now. Washington Sundar, left handed bat, comes to the crease. End of the over and yet another good one for Sodhi. IND 87/5 after 11 Overs.
Sodhi continues. KL Rahul cuts this slider for four more. Runs continue to come thick and fast for KL. The Karnataka batsman is making the most of his good form. The commentator's course, eh? Rahul holes out now ... nothing delivery from Sodhi: a half-tracker but Rahul has hit that straight to, you guessed it right, Santner! Third catch of the evening for him. Manish Pandey at the crease. IND 78/4 after 9 Overs.
Kuggeleijn continues. KL Rahul gets on top of the bounce and executes an inch-perfect square-cut for four. Dube now throws his hands at a fractionally wide delivery and gets four. He ends the over with yet another boundary. Kuggeleijn bleeding runs. IND 69/3 after 8 Overs.
Here comes Kuggeleijn. End of the Powerplay and a rather pleasing one at that: just one coming off it. Leg-spinner Ish Sodhi into the attack now. He strikes straightaway: Iyer has been caught behind, beaten by length and bounce as Tim Seifert completes a sharp catch. India three down. Shivam Dube, left handed bat, comes to the crease. IND 55/3 after 7 Overs.
Southee is back into the attack. Good over from the skipper. Only five off it in the end. Hamish Bennett, right-arm fast medium, comes into the attack. Kohli greets him with one of those trademark wristy whips to deep square-leg for four. Follows it up with a boundary to third-man. Kiwis leaking runs. GONE! Santner, you beauty. He pulls off a stunning catch to get rid of the Indian captain. Shreyas Iyer joins KL. 10 runs and a wicket. IND 50/2 after 5 Overs.
Mitchell Santner, Left arm orthodox, comes into the attack. Rahul continuing his purple patch: Santner goes short and KL pulls it with disdain for six. He follows it up with a delightful cover-drive for four. 13 off this over, 28 off last two. IND 35/1 after 3 Overs.
Scott Kuggeleijn, right-arm fast medium, comes into the attack. SHOT! Samson has flicked a length ball over cow corner for six. Fabulous striking. GONE! Samson perishes after hitting a maximum, again. He throws it away, does Samson. Kuggeleijn gets the breakthrough . Virat Kohli joins KL. CLOBBERED ! KL hammers one over extra-cover for six now, off a free-hit. 15 runs and a wicket. IND 22/1 after 2 Overs.
Out walk the openers KL and Samson. KL will take strike. Tim Southee with the new ball. Southee starts off with a wide. First runs off the bat for KL, who picks up a brace to get off the mark. A quick single follows; Samson now all set to face the first ball of the match. The Kerala batsman opens his account with a single. Seven off the first over. IND 7/0 after 1 Over.
TOSS UPDATE: New Zealand has won the toss and put India in to bat. Three changes for India. Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini are in. Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Shami and Rohit Sharma have been rested. Samson will open the innings with KL.
New Zealand (Playing XI): Martin Guptill, Colin Munro, Tom Bruce, Ross Taylor, Tim Seifert(w), Mitchell Santner, Scott Kuggeleijn, Tim Southee(c), Ish Sodhi, Hamish Bennett, Daryl Mitchell
India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson, Lokesh Rahul(w), Virat Kohli(c), Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey, Shivam Dube, Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Yuzvendra Chahal, Jasprit Bumrah, Navdeep Saini
PITCH REPORT : "This is a drop-in pitch. Looks like a beautiful pitch to bat on. It's rock hard. Even though there's even grass cover, it'll be an excellent wicket to bat on. Dimensions will be challenging to the bowlers. Square boundaries are very short - less than 60 metres. Straight boundaries - around 80 metres. The pitch was used early in the season for England vs New Zealand. Lot of runs were scored. There are not many foot-marks, so don't expect too much of spin," point out Scott Styris and VVS Laxman.
JUST IN: "Captain Kane Williamson has been ruled out of tonight’s 4th T20I with a left-shoulder injury (AC joint) sustained while diving in the field in game 3. He will hopefully be available for the final game of the series at Bay Oval. Tim Southee will captain the side in T20I 4," The Black Caps tweeted.
As we await the toss, injuries to frontline fast bowlers have forced New Zealand to opt for fresh blood in its pace attack for the three-match ODI series against India. Here's the complete squad .
Match preview
An unassailable lead has opened up the window for experimentation but there will be no letup in India’s intensity when they face a heartbroken New Zealand team in the fourth T20 International here on Friday. Mohammed Shami and Rohit Sharma combined to pull off a thrilling win via a Super Over in the third game for a 3-0 lead and a maiden T20I series win on New Zealand soil.
While a five-match T20I series is a rarity, India’s early victory means both sides can contemplate various permutations in light of the T20 World Cup later in the year. From an Indian perspective, need of the hour is to find a balance between experimentation and the winning desire. Read the full preview here.
Hello and welcome to Sportstar's live coverage of the fourth T20I between India and New Zealand at the Sky Stadium, Wellington.
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