Auckland: Century-maker Glenn Phillips and fast bowler Jacob Duffy headlined the “complete performance” that New Zealand had been looking for as the hosts scripted a dominating 87-run victory over a vastly underwhelming India in the fourth T20 International here on Friday.
The Shreyas Iyer-led India have already won the first three T20Is to take an irreversible lead in the five-match series, but the result helped the Kiwis to finally register themselves on the scoreline and make it 3-1.
Phillips’ 49-ball 107 and his fifth-wicket alliance of 115 off a mere 41 balls with an equally bruising Michael Bracewell (65, 25 balls) carried the hosts to 259 for seven after being invited to bat.
India’s chase went horribly wrong as Duffy (4/23) struck twice in the opening over, dismissing Sanju Samson (4) and Ishan Kishan (0).
The chase derailed further in the middle overs as Duffy broke a brief recovery by dismissing Naman Dhir (28) and Arshdeep Singh (0) off successive deliveries to virtually seal the match.
Brief scores: New Zealand: 259 for 7 in 20 overs (Glenn Phillips 107, Michael Bracewell 65; Mayank Yadav 3/48).
India 172 for nine in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 35, Naman Dhir 28; Jacob Duffy 4/23).
