Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], January 31 : After losing the fifth and final T20I and also the series against India, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner admitted to the formidable challenge of beating the Men in Blue at their den.
During the post-match presentation, the New Zealand captain said they learnt a lot from the five-match T20I series, which will help them at the upcoming ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, starting on February 7.
"We learnt a lot of stuff. Tough to beat India on their home turf. When you're challenged a lot, it's a good thing. Results haven't gone our way, have learned. It's not easy to bowl against good batting units," Santner said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
After the match, Arshdeep, who picked up a five-wicket haul, said that the talk was about giving it all while defending the target.
"Great learning for me to stay in the game. That was the message from the coaching staff. It's just for the camera, I look calm. Lately, I've been going for runs consistently. I'm trying to stay in the game with Morne Morkel's help. I enjoyed some of the shots Finn played, but I could've planned better. They were always going to come hard. (Huddle from SKY after the powerplay) The talk was about body language, giving it our all, and giving it our best shot to keep them under 180. Happy with individual performances, but the perfect team game hasn't come. Hope that comes in the World Cup," Arshdeep said after the match.
In the match, India won the toss and chose to bat first. While Sanju fell to a single-digit score, Abhishek Sharma (30 in 16 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) also fell, leaving India at 48/2. A 137-run stand between Ishan Kishan (103 in 43 balls, with six fours and 10 sixes) and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (63 in 30 balls, with four boundaries and six sixes) enthralled the audience. Later on, a cameo from Hardik Pandya (42 in 17 balls, with a four and four sixes) took India to 271/5 in 20 overs.
Lockie Ferguson (2/41) was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand, while Jacob Duffy (1/53), Kyle Jamieson (1/59) and Mitchell Santner (1/60) leaked runs.
In the run chase, after the Kiwis lost Tim Seifert early, a century stand between Allen (80 in 38 balls, with eight fours and six sixes) and Rachin Ravindra (30 in 17 balls, with two fours and two sixes) threatened to make India sweat. However, Arshdeep Singh (5/51) and Axar Patel (3/33) ripped apart the Kiwi middle-order, and they were skittled out for 225 runs after being 191/9 at one point.
India has won the five-match T20I series 4-1.