Alarm bells despite series win: Seifert, Phillips, Milne expose India’s shortcomings in Hamilton
New Zealand’s Tim Seifert, right, bats during the T20 international cricket match between New Zealand and India in Hamilton, New Zealand, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2026. India may have swept the five-match T20I series 3-2, but Sunday’s crushing seven-wicket defeat by New Zealand in Hamilton exposed several cracks that will worry the team management ahead of the ODI leg that begins on November 4.For the second consecutive match, India’s bowling lacked penetration and their fielding failed to back it up as New Zealand chased down 192 with ease at Seddon Park. Tim Seifert hit a breathtaking 93 off 50 balls while Glenn Phillips capped off a dream run with an unbeaten 65 off 38 deliveries as the hosts romped home with 12 balls to spare.Earlier, Adam Milne’s fiery spell of 4-19 ensured India were restricted to 191-8 despite half-centuries from Ishan Kishan and skipper Shreyas Iyer.The biggest talking point ahead of the match was India’s continued reluctance to give teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi an opportunity despite the game being a dead rubber. Instead, Sanju Samson kept his place and endured another disappointing outing as he fell for four. Apart from his 67 in the opener, Samson failed to hit in the series and compounded a poor evening by falling to 31 for Phillips.India’s innings looked set for a grandstand finish after Kishan and Iyer launched a counter-attack after early setbacks. Abhishek Sharma fell for one as Samson’s struggles continued, leaving India under pressure at 18-2.Kishan, who returned after missing two matches due to low adductor strain, looked sublime from the start. The left-hander smashed 61 off just 32 balls, hitting five fours and five sixes. At the other end, Iyer finally rediscovered his rhythm and raced to a 22-ball fifty, his fastest in T20Is. The pair added 93 runs in just 43 balls for the third wicket to power India to 111-2 after 10 overs. At this stage it seemed possible that there would be more than 200 in total.However, the New Zealand bowlers staged an impressive comeback. Blair Tickner dismissed Kishan while Nathan Smith removed Iyer with a well-directed short ball. Milne’s pace and bounce troubled the lower order and India managed only 80 runs in the second half of the innings. Naman Dhir with 33 and Nitish Kumar Reddy with 22 provided the late impetus but the visitors eventually fell short of what would have been a par score.The chase belonged almost exclusively to New Zealand. Seifert survived an early reprieve when he was dropped by Naman Dhir on 13 to make India pay dearly. He added 73 runs with Daryl Mitchell before combining with Phillips for an 86-run stand for the third wicket that effectively ended the contest.Phillips once again showed why he is among the world’s most destructive T20 batsmen in the middle order. Fresh from his century in the previous match, he hit eight fours and three sixes to end the series with a record 341 runs in five matches.
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Share an opinionIndia had one bright spot. Kishan’s knock took him to 1,220 T20I runs in 2026, breaking Suryakumar Yadav’s record for most runs by an Indian in a calendar year and helping him cross the milestone of 2,000 runs in T20Is.