In the fourth T20 international played in Wellington, India once again defeated New Zealand in a super over after a match tie and took a 4–0 lead in the series. Batting first, India scored 165/8, in response to which New Zealand also scored 165/7 and the second consecutive super over match between the two teams. After this, in the Super Over, the Indian team won with one ball remaining. Shardul Thakur (20 runs and two wickets) was adjudged Man of the Match for his all-round performance.
For New Zealand today, Tim Southee replaced Kane Williamson as captain and won the toss and decided to bowl first. The New Zealand team underwent two changes, replacing Tom Bruce and Darryl Mitchell as Kane Williamson and Colin de Grandhom. The Indian team also had three changes and replaced Rohit Sharma, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Shami with Sanju Samson, Washington Sundar and Navdeep Saini.
The Indian team did not start well and Sanju Samson (8) was out on 14 in the second over. After this, India suffered another major setback in the powerplay and captain Virat Kohli (11) was also dismissed for a score of 48 in the fifth over. After the powerplay, Shreyas Iyer (1) was also dismissed cheaply in the seventh over.
KL Rahul played a quick knock of 39 runs from 26 balls, but his dismissal at the score of 75 in the ninth over gave India the fourth blow. Soon after, Shivam Dubey (12) and Washington Sundar (0) were also dismissed in the 11th and 12th overs and the score was 88/6. From here Manish Pandey took over the team and added 43 runs for the seventh wicket with Shardul Thakur (20). After quick dismissals of Shardul and Yuzvendra Chahal, Manish Pandey shared a crucial 23-run partnership for the ninth wicket with Navdeep Saini (11 *) to take the team to 160. Manish Pandey hit his third T20 international half-century and scored an unbeaten 50-run knock in 36 balls with the help of three fours.
In response to the target of 166 runs, New Zealand suffered a major setback in the powerplay and Martin Guptill (4) was dismissed for 22 in the fifth over. After the Powerplay, the hosts had a score of 39/1. Colin Munro scored 64 off 47 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes and shared a 74-run partnership for the second wicket with Tim Seifert, but his run-out at the score of 96 in the 12th over gave New Zealand second setback. In the 13th over, soon after Munro was dismissed, Tom Bruce was also dismissed for a score of 97 without opening the account.
From here, Tim Seifert played an extremely important and unbeaten partnership of 62 runs for the fourth wicket with Ross Taylor (24), as well as completing his half-century. Seifert smashed 57 off 39 balls with the help of four fours and three sixes, but the match was thrilled with the dismissals of Ross Taylor and Seifert in the last over. Like the previous match, the Indian team made a great comeback in this match and the New Zealand team was once again one run behind the target. In four balls, the hosts needed three runs, but only two runs were scored and their second consecutive match was tied. New Zealand lost four wickets in the last over. For India, Shardul Thakur took two and Jaspreet Bumrah and Yuzvendra Chahal took one wicket each.
In the Super Over, New Zealand scored 13 against Jaspreet Bumrah while playing first and the Indian team got the target of 14 runs. In reply, KL Rahul hit a six and a four on the first two balls, but he was dismissed on the third ball. After this, captain Virat Kohli took two runs off the fourth ball and hit the fifth ball for four to give the team victory.
The fifth and final match of the series between the two teams will be played on February 2 at Mount Maunganui.
