Matt Henry and Will Young dismantle India as New Zealand register 244-run win

New Zealand kept the series alive with a commanding 244-run win over India in Friday’s fourth one-day international at Mount Maunganui, driven by a century from Will Young and a six-wicket haul by Matt Henry, who dismissed the touring side for 89.

Although trailing 2-1 in the five-match contest and unable to claim an overall series victory, the home team can still secure a draw should they win Sunday’s final fixture at the same ground. Rain had forced the abandonment of the third game.

Set a target of 334, India endured a terrible start when fast bowler Henry reduced them to 0-3 during a devastating opening over, dismissing Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer in quick succession.

Ruturaj Gaikwad was removed soon after, though a stubborn 44-run stand between Ishan Kishan (27) and Axar Patel (21), alongside a rapid 21 from Naman Dhir, prevented India from suffering a record-breaking run defeat.

Henry claimed three further victims to wrap up the innings, bowling India out for their sixth-lowest total in ODI history.

At the start of the day, opener Young recovered from earlier scores of 9 and 6 in the series to make a career-best 125 off 108 balls to the gall of India who dropped him twice on the way to registering his fifth century in the format.

The 33-year-old capitalised on sloppy Indian fielding after Rohit and Kishan dropped catches off consecutive balls during the second over of the innings.

Young received solid support from Tim Seifert, who scored 58, and Finn Allen, who added 41, while India’s bowling attack saw Patel, Gurnoor Brar and Auqib Nabi take two wickets apiece.

India were missing captain Shubman Gill and batter KL Rahul, both of whom are sidelined for the rest of the ODI series to prepare for Wednesday’s two-test series against New Zealand.