New Zealand’s Tim Seifert (AP/PTI Photo)
Seifert, who had endured a difficult series with four successive single-digit scores, produced a stunning turnaround in the final match, smashing 93 off just 50 deliveries. He was dropped on 13 before making India pay with an aggressive innings that put New Zealand firmly on course to chase down 192 in just 18 overs. The middle-order batter finished with 341 runs, breaking Phil Salt ‘s record of 331 runs for the most runs by a batter in a bilateral T20I series. Phillips’ remarkable run included scores of 82 not out, 70, 17, 107 and an unbeaten 65 in the final match.
The opener said adapting to different conditions and learning from mistakes in the earlier matches were crucial to New Zealand’s improved performances towards the end of the series. I think the bowlers, the batters have stepped up and adapted to the wickets that we’ve played on,” he said. So yeah, credit to him,” Seifert said.
Speaking after the match, Seifert joked that the wait for his first international century continued to weigh on him. “Yeah, I think it was the learning from the previous games. You know, we were close in Christchurch (1st and 2nd T20Is). It’s just about winning those little margins when the game is on the line. “Look, that’s (winning) your main goal at the start of the series. But when you look back at the series, I think we played good cricket in Christchurch. We just didn’t win the final moments. Glenn Phillips was the standout performer across the series While Seifert provided the fireworks in the final match. He also became one of only three batters to register four or more half-centuries in a bilateral T20I series. “No matter who’s coming in, you know, we just keep on attacking. And look, to break the highest ever in a five-match series, you got to take a hat off to him and say well played. But just the way he went about his innings as well, he didn’t necessarily come out all guns blazing at the start, got himself in and then picked up his match-ups throughout the innings.