IND vs NZ 2025-26, 4th T20I, Highlights: Conway-Seifert opening storm proves decisive as India fall despite Shivam Dube’s valiant knock.
Brief Scores: New Zealand 215/7 (Tim Seifert 62, Devon Conway 44, Arshdeep Singh 2/33) beat India 165 (Shivam Dube 65, Mitchell Santner 3/26, Jacob Duffy 2/33) by 50 runs.
Player of the match: Tim Seifert.
India have already taken an unassailable 3-0 lead heading into the fourth T20I of the five-match series. Their focus, therefore, shifted to covering every base ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. New Zealand, on the other hand, had several questions to answer – both in the batting and bowling departments. The clash took place at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam.
India captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and decided to bowl first. He mentioned that the dew had started to take effect even before the first ball of the fixture. The hosts made one change; they rested the injured Ishan Kishan to bring back Arshdeep Singh, lightening their batting line-up.
Meanwhile, the Kiwi captain Mitchell Santner had a worried look on his face after being put into bat first. Finn Allen was still unavailable for the clash. Besides, the visitors included Zakary Foulkes back into the eleven in place of Kyle Jamieson.
Read More: IND vs NZ 2025-26, 3rd T20I: India execute fastest chase in match involving Test teams (150+ target)
Talking point: Are India losing plot without Abishek Sharma & Suryakumar Yadav firing?
Undoubtedly, India have a top-class batting line-up. However, there are doubts about whether they have started losing the plot without contributions from Abhishek Sharma and skipper Suryakumar.
The duo were consistent throughout the series. But on the one evening they failed, India’s lower order couldn’t bail them out. This could very well be the weakness opponents have been looking for.
NZ’s 100-run opening stand carries them to 215/7
Unlike the previous three contests, New Zealand went off to a flying start in the fourth one. They reached 71/0 inside the powerplay. Tim Seifert celebrated his half-century in just 25 balls, besides getting an equally impressive contribution from Devon Conway. Their 100-run opening stand set the platform for the tourists before India made a strong comeback.
The Kiwis lost their way in the middle with 6/62 in 49 balls before Daryl Mitchell shouldered the responsibility. His unbeaten 39 runs in just 18 balls powered the Blackcaps to 215/7 in their allotted 20 overs.
The Blue Brigade produced a great overall fielding performance, which is positive news ahead of the World Cup.
Disciplined NZ earn 50-run victory
India didn’t get off to a good start, losing both their in-form batters, Suryakumar and Abhishek, inside two overs with just nine runs on the board. Sanju Samson looked good for 24 but lost his stumps to a nearly straight delivery. In the blink of an eye, the hosts found themselves limping at 82/5 by the 11th over.
Shivam Dube restored some hope as he seemed to be batting on a different surface. He brought up his fifty in 15 balls, a knock that saw Ish Sodhi being smacked for 29 runs in a single over.
Dube’s resistance finally broke at 65 and there was little batting left for the hosts after that. They soon found themselves bundled out for 165, giving the Kiwis a massive 50-run win – a major confidence boost ahead of the World Cup.
Read More: T20 World Cup 2026: Why rest of the teams need to be cautious against India’s fiery batting line up
Statistical highlights from IND vs NZ, 4th T20I, 2026, in Visakhapatnam
- New Zealand become the third team to feature in 250 T20I matches. They are only behind Pakistan (289) and India (267) in the list.
- Since February 2020, New Zealand have recorded their first 50+ run T20I opening partnership against India in 17 innings. The previous one came in January 2020 in Auckland.
- Devon Conway and Tim Seifert notch up New Zealand’s second-highest T20I opening partnership (100) against India.
- Tim Seifert (420) overtakes Kane Williamson (419) to become New Zealand’s second leading run-getter against India in T20Is.
- Glenn Phillips has reached 100 sixes in T20Is. He is New Zealand’s third-highest six-hitter in this format, behind Martin Guptill (173) & Colin Munro (107).
- Kuldeep Yadav has dismissed Glenn Phillips four times in T20Is at an average of 11.8.
- New Zealand’s 215/7 becomes their second-highest team score against India in T20Is.
- Shivam Dube smashed the third-fastest fifty for India in T20Is.
What’s to come?
New Zealand will hope to continue the same dominance in the fifth game and finish the series on a high. The final T20I of the series takes place on January 31 at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram.
Read More: SKY back among runs a good sign for India ahead of T20 World Cup 2026
Top Twitter Reactions from IND vs NZ, 4th T20I, Visakhapatnam, 2025-26
With the series already lost. Consolation win for NZ but which will do their morale and onfidence a world of good for the World Cup. Barring Dube’s explosive knock India outplayed in batting and bowling. Concern over Samson’s drought of runs grows bigger
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) January 28, 2026
For Sanju, it is critical to shift the mindset from trying to match Ishan’s scores to channelising his focus on delivering optimum returns. A batter always performs best when all he cares about is how the team could benefit from his runs, rather than engaging in a 1v1 tussle of…
— Priyank Panchal (@PKpanchal09) January 28, 2026
Read More: IND vs NZ 2025-26, 1st T20I: Abhishek Sharma’s 84(35) key differentiator; India go 1-0 up
