Inspired New Zealand levels series at 2-2

Tim Southee sparkled in the night with figures of 3 for 40 from nine overs, but it was Neesham who gave New Zealand a new lease of life. After picking up the first wicket, Neesham had more bounce in his step, and with that added pace he snuck through Dhoni’s attempted push to mid-off.

Axar (38), Manish Pandey (12), Hardik Pandya (9), Mishra (15), Kulkarni (25 not out) and Umesh Yadav (7) kept the crowd still chewing on the idea of a come-from-behind win through different stages.

But when the eighth-wicket 38-run stand between Axar and Mishra came to an end, courtesy a run out, hope slowly ebbed before inching back when Kulkarni and Yadav put together 34 runs for the last wicket. However, that was nipped in the bud when Yadav holed out to Taylor at extra cover to signal New Zealand’s win.

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