New Zealand defeated India by four runs in the third and final Twenty20 International (T20I) to clinch the series 2-1 here on Sunday. Chasing a mammoth 213-run target, India could only manage 208/7 in their 20 overs. The Blackcaps were successful to hold off India despite a late charge from Krunal Pandya and Dinesh Karthik.
At one stage, Indian star batsman Krunal Pandya and Dinesh Karthik were targeting the Kiwi bowlers smartly and took the match till the end as they got together with 68 runs to win off the last five overs. However, Tim Southee used all his experience to bowl some brilliant delivers in the final over to defend the total (212/4) and secure the match and series.
In the last ball of the final over, Karthik launched a slower delivery from Southee over the deep extra cover fence for six, a big blow but a little too late. It appeared that right after hitting a six off the ball; Dinesh Karthik said "sorry" to Krunal Pandya for denying a single in the fourth ball of the final over. That might not have made the difference, but that's DK the gentleman for you.
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It also seemed that IPL franchise Mumbai Indians and Indian former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar too were unhappy with Karthik for denying KP the strike.
Brief scores: New Zealand: 212/4 (Colin Munro 72, Tim Seifert 43; Kuldeep Yadav 2/26) against India: 208/7 (Vijay Shankar 43, Rohit Sharma 38; Mitchell Santner 2/32, Daryl Mitchell