NZ vs IND 2026/27, NZ vs IND 4th ODI Match Report, November 13, 2026

New Zealand 333 (Young 125, Seifert 58, Axar 2-39) beat India 89 (Kishan 27, Henry 6-27, Fisher 3-31) by 244 runs

India have been scrambling to get their Test players some Test-like preparation but Test cricket came to right where they were with Matt Henry returning to action and immediately finding the magical length that traps batters on the crease and hits the top of the stumps. In what has to be among a handful of the greatest first overs ever bowled in an ODI innings, he consigned to ducks Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer, all but ending India’s chase of 334, a target they would have been pretty happy with after Will Young‘s personal best of 125 off 108 had taken New Zealand to 256 for 4 in the 37th over.

While India will be pleased with their constant strikes in the middle overs, an area they have struggled in in the past, they will also reflect on the 85-run opening stand in these conditions. Auqib Nabi had Young dropped twice on 5, but after that India didn’t look as threatening with the new ball.

You might think India were reverting to type in good batting conditions in Mount Maunganui, but this was a surprisingly good start for New Zealand. Tim Seifert was the first New Zealand batter since Martin Guptill in 2015 to complete a fifty in the first 10 overs, also his maiden one in the format. This was also New Zealand’s first opening stand of 50 or more in the last eight ODIs.

Just when it was looking ominous for India, Gurnoor Brar struck with his typical mode of attack: short and at high pace even if the cost of that was a high economy rate. Axar Patel then tightened the screws, resulting in the wickets of Nick Kelly and Dean Foxcroft, both in for New Zealand players away at the Test camp.

A third replacement, Finn Allen provided New Zealand a possible alternative for the future. By now Young had got over his initial stumbles. He and Allen took down Kuldeep Yadav, playing his first match of the tour, and then just carried attacking other bowlers in a fourth-wicket partnership of 90 runs in a little over 10 overs.

Having dropped a much easier catch in the slips earlier, Rohit took a diving low catch to his right at short cover to send Allen back and drag the marauding New Zealand back.

Young stayed quiet only for two overs before consigning Kuldeep to overs of nine and 12 runs. He had gone from 50 off 49 to 124 off 106, forcing Iyer to go to his sixth bowler, Naman Dhir. Young was not satisfied with nine runs off the first balls of Dhir’s over, and ended up too close to the pitch of one, thus unable to clear deep midwicket. Moments later, Dhir took a special catch running in from deep midwicket and diving low to get the wicket of Michael Bracewell off another Brar short ball.

Now Mitchell Santner had to manage batting with the bowlers, which he did for a while, hitting two sixes off Axar in between, but Arshdeep Singh returned to take the wicket of Santner. India took 6 for 77 in the last 13.1 overs, reason to feel they carried momentum into the chase.

Henry made a mockery of any such notion. Having missed most of the T20Is with a leg injury and then the ODIs with fears of concussion after a collision with Devon Conway on the eve of the series, Henry stayed back for the fourth ODI to just prove his fitness and get some in-competition overs in his legs. And like a well-oiled machine, he landed the first ball on the money: the back half of good length, on off, kicking at Rohit and seaming away, squaring him up and taking the edge to first slip. A sight reminiscent of the twilight of Rohit’s Test career.

The next ball would have reminded Kohli of the travails of Test cricket. Fuller side of good length, drawing him forward, seaming away, missing the outside edge by inches. Three balls later, Henry again wobbled the seam and an almost identically pitched delivery seamed in and stayed low to rattle Kohli’s furniture.

Iyer became the first Indian to score a golden duck on captaincy debut when Henry again trapped him on the crease and nipped one past his inside edge. It took New Zealand a DRS review to secure this wicket, but Henry was never uncertain, going up in celebration even before turning to appeal.

It took 17 balls for India to score a run off Henry, but the other end was no less troublesome. Kyle Jamieson, who will likely slot in with the new ball in the Tests as well, used his height to get extra bounce to go with the seam movement. Ruturaj Gaikwad stood no chance when one seamed away immediately after one that had seamed back in and kicked up from a length. Jamieson could have been on a hat-trick had Kelly taken the sitter at point, drawn through a short ball to Axar.

Both the fast bowlers were given six-over spells to demonstrate their Test readiness, but Matt Fisher made sure there was no let-up. He kept bounding in, bowling high pace, hitting hard lengths and taking 3 for 31. Leaving just enough opportunity for Henry to come back and end up with his first six-for in ODIs, hitting the stumps of three left-hand batters.

New Zealand kept the series alive, but now needed to square it without Henry and Jamieson in the finale on Sunday.

Sidharth Monga is a senior writer at Cricinfo

Source: www.cricinfo.com