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As New Zealand defeated India by a massive 244 runs in the fourth ODI at Mount Maunganui after bowling them out for just 89 while defending a target of 334, skipper Mitchell Santner expressed satisfaction with the Kiwis overall performance, praising the bowlers for putting India under early pressure in the powerplay.
He also credited Will Young's century and Tim Seifert's valuable contribution for helping the hosts post a strong total, while acknowledging that they could have scored a few more runs. Santner also lauded Matt Henry's impact with the new ball, which set the tone for India's batting collapse. New Zealand handed India a crushing 244-run defeat in the third ODI at Mount Maunganui on Friday, bowling the visitors out for just 89 while defending a massive target of 334. Will Young's fluent 125 off 108 balls, supported by valuable contributions from Tim Seifert (58 off 48) and Finn Allen (41 off 30), powered the hosts to 333, before Matt Henry's career-best ODI figures of 6/27 triggered a dramatic Indian batting collapse. "Pretty happy. Didn't have to bowl again, so pretty happy. Nah, yeah, obviously put in again. Thought the boys put the pressure back on them pretty early in the powerplay, which was nice. And then obviously Youngy did his thing, Seifert, little cameos along the way, and then it got us to a pretty good score. We probably left a couple out there, we thought. But then yeah, I guess Matt Henry with the new ball's pretty nice," Santner said after the match. Matt Henry (6/27) wreaked havoc on India's top order, dismissing Rohit Sharma (0), Virat Kohli (0) and Shreyas Iyer (0) in a sensational opening over to leave the visitors reeling at 0/3. The Kiwi pacer returned to dismantle the lower order, removing Ishan Kishan, Kuldeep Yadav (1) and Gurnoor Brar (2) to register career-best ODI figures and bowl India out for just 89 in 26.4 overs. Henry continued his impressive record against India in ODIs. The Kiwi pace spearhead has now claimed 27 wickets in 12 matches at an outstanding average of 17.33, including two five-wicket hauls. Santner praised Henry's return to the side, describing him as the world's best with the new ball on a surface offering assistance to seamers. He highlighted Henry's three crucial wickets in the opening over, which gave New Zealand an early advantage and put India under immense pressure. "Yeah, nice. He wanted to play today. Yeah, I think with the new ball on a wicket that offers a little bit, he's the world's best. So yeah, to get three pretty big scalps in that first over really, yeah, put us on the front foot," he added. It proved to be a decisive result as the hosts trimmed India's series lead to 2-1 heading into the final fixture on Sunday. (ANI)
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