NZ beats India by 4 runs in last T20, wins series 2-1

Colin Munro plundered 72 runs from 40 balls to set New Zealand on course for a four-run win over India in the third Twenty20 cricket international on Sunday and a 2-1 win in the three-match series.

Munro and Tim Seifert, who made 43 from 25 balls, gave New Zealand a lightning start that allowed it to reach 212-4 as it batted first after losing the toss.

India mostly lagged behind the necessary run rate and came to the last over needing 16 runs to win. Tim Southee bowled a tight over and though Dinesh Karthik thrashed the last ball for six, India came up just short at 208-6.

India's Rohit Sharma reacts after dropping a catch during their twenty20 cricket international against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019. (AP PhotoDavid Rowland)

Karthik finished 33 not out and Krunal Pandya 26 not out but India lacked the substantial partnerships that might have lifted it to its winning target.

Vijay Shankar, with 43 from 28 balls, and Rishabh Pant with 28 from 12 looked, along with the last pair, as if they might propel India to victory but the India run chase was poorly organized and fell just short.

"It was pretty disappointing not to go through that finishing lane but I thought we fought pretty well," India captain Rohit Sharma said. "I thought 210-odd was always going to be a tough chase but I thought we were in the game right until the end.

New Zealand's Blair Tickner prepares to bowl on his debut during their twenty20 cricket international against India at Seddon Park in Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019. (AP PhotoDavid Rowland)

"But I thought New Zealand bowled pretty well at the end. They kept using that yorker which rewarded them."

Munro signaled his and New Zealand's intentions from the outset, hitting the first ball he faced from Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 6. He rushed to 50 from 28 balls with three fours and four sixes and his entire innings contained five fours and five sixes and set the tempo for a strong New Zealand batting performance.

New Zealand was 46-0 after five overs and its first 50 runs came from only 32 balls.

New Zealand's Blair Tickner bowls during their twenty20 cricket international against India at Seddon Park in Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019. (AP PhotoDavid Rowland)

Seifert fell at 80-1 to a dubious stumping decision as M.S. Dhoni completed a slick dismissal from the bowling of Kuldeep Yadava. Munro continued to set the rapid tempo of the innings before falling to Yardav when New Zealand was 135-2.

Further contributions of 27 from 21 balls by captain Kane Williamson, 30 from 16 balls from Colin de Grandhomme, 19 from Daryl Mitchell — son of England assistant rugby coach John Mitchell — and 14 from seven balls by Ross Taylor swelled the New Zealand total and proved decisive in a close finish.

India suffered an early setback when it lost the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan to the bowling of left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner in the first over of its reply.

India's Rishabh Pant bats against New Zealand during their twenty20 cricket international at Seddon Park in Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019. (AP PhotoDavid Rowland)

Captain Sharma set out to play an anchor role and batted until the 14th over. He was prepared to understudy the big hitters who were likely to see India to a match and series victory but their contributions were too sporadic and too short.

Vijay Shankar blasted 43 from 28 balls with five fours and two sixes and Rishabh Pant began what looked like a match-winning innings with three sixes and a four from his first eight deliveries. But he fell to one of the soft dismissals that undid India's chase for victory.

It stayed in the hunt for a win when it took 14 runs from the penultimate over, bowled by Scott Kuggeleijn. But Southee bowled a tight last over and Karthik, who monopolized the strike at the expense of Krunal Pandya, who had taken 26 runs from 13 balls, wasn't able to clinch a win.

New Zealand's Blair Tickner bowls against India during their twenty20 cricket international at Seddon Park in Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019. (AP PhotoDavid Rowland)

"It was a brilliant series and both teams put on a fantastic display of cricket, especially today," Williamson said. "What a brilliant game and great advertisement for T20 cricket.

"Credit to India, they've been outstanding through this whole series but it was nice to get across the line tonight."

India's Dinesh Karthik bats during their twenty20 cricket international against New Zealand at Seddon Park in Auckland, New Zealand, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019. (AP PhotoDavid Rowland)

ALTA BADIA, Italy (AP) — Marco Schwarz took a big lead in the first run of a World Cup giant slalom Sunday with Marco Odermatt far from contention after a tough three-day program of speed races.

Maybe only fatigue can stop Swiss star Odermatt at Alta Badia where he won five of the past six giant slaloms on the classic Gran Risa course.

Odermatt was 1.51 seconds behind Schwarz’s leading time having come from nearby Val Gardena where since Thursday he won a downhill and was runner-up in a downhill and a super-G.

The other giant slalom contenders do not race downhill though Schwarz did compete Friday in the super-G at Val Gardena. Wearing the No. 1 bib Sunday, Schwarz found a fast and direct line to be 0.64 faster than River Radamus of the United States.

Stefan Brennsteiner was third with 0.67 to make up on his Austria teammate Schwarz in the afternoon run.

A course set by a U.S. team coach seemed to mystify the usual favorites in giant slalom.

Olympic champion Odermatt and former world champion Henrik Kristoffersen, who trailed by 1.52, looked bemused in the finish area seeing how much slower they were than Schwarz. Both placed outside the top-10 times.

The race included the first Russian skier in a men's World Cup event for nearly four years since the easing of a ban imposed during the war on Ukraine by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation.

The 35-year-old Aleksander Andrienko was given approved neutral status this month by FIS to resume competing so he could try to qualify for the Milan Cortina Olympics in February.

Given the No. 39 start bib Sunday, Andrienko was 52nd-fastest and more than one second outside the top-30 times that qualify for a second run. Neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus must compete without their national identity of team colors and flag.

Missing from the lineup was Alexander Steen Olsen who opted this week for season-ending knee surgery because of a persistent injury.

Steen Olsen was a two-time winner in giant slalom on the World Cup circuit last season and shaped as a medal contender at the Olympics.

AP Olympics coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

United States' River Radamus speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 21,2025. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 21,2025. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

Switzerland's Marco Odermatt speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 21,2025. (AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati)

Austria's Marco Schwarz speeds down the course during an alpine ski, men's World Cup giant slalom, in Alta Badia, Italy, Sunday, Dec. 21,2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)