Tim Seifert clocked second-most runs in a T20 WC edition
What's the story
In a stunning turn of events, New Zealand's batting order collapsed against India in the 2026 T20 World Cup final at the Narendra Modi Stadium. Chasing a daunting target of 256 runs, they were undone by some exceptional spell bowling and were bundled out for just 159 - handing India the title. Tim Seifert stood tall amid ruins, scoring a quick-fire fifty off just 23 balls. He finished the tourney as the second-highest run-getter. Let's decode his stats.
Match highlights
Seifert shines amid the odds
Seifert's innings was a ray of hope in an otherwise disappointing scorecard. The wicketkeeper-batsman, who opened the innings, played some inventive scoops and powerful strikes over extra cover, briefly keeping the Kiwi hopes alive. While Seifert's half-century delayed the inevitable, the lack of partnerships proved fatal for New Zealand. He smashed a 26-ball 52 (2 fours and 5 sixes) before falling to Varun Chakravarthy in the ninth over. The Kiwis were later bowled out for just 159.
Campaign
Seifert only behind Farhan
As mentioned, Seifert finished as the second-highest run-scorer of this edition. He scored 326 runs in eight innings at an average of 46.57 and a strike rate of 166.32, including four fifties. He finished only behind Pakistan's Sahibzada Farhan, who clocked 383 runs. Notably, no other batter has scored more runs than these two in a T20 WC edition. Seifert also became the first keeper and first New Zealander to clock 300-plus runs in a T20 WC season.
DYK
Seifert joins these names
As per ESPNcricinfo, Seifert now has the joint-second-most 50-plus scores against India in T20Is (5). He joined the likes of England's Jos Buttler and West Indies's Nicholas Pooran, as WI's Chris Gayle tops the list with six such scores. Seifert has now completed 477 runs from 16 T20I matches against India at 34.07 (SR: 152.88). Meanwhile, Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara and South Africa's Heinrich Klaasen are the only other batters with 50-plus scores vs India in T20 WC finals.
Milestone
Shining in both semi-final and final
Notably, Seifert smashed a match-winning 58 in the semi-final clash against South Africa. With this, he became the fourth player to score a half-century in the semi-finals and finals of a T20 World Cup edition. He joined Pakistan's Shahid Afridi (in 2009), India's Virat Kohli (in 2014), and India's Sanju Samson (in 2026). Kane Williamson (85 vs Australia, 2021) is the only other Kiwi batter with a 50-plus score in a T20 WC final.
Career
A look at his T20I career
The 31-year-old Seifert has now raced to 2,279 runs from 90 T20Is (84 innings) at 31.21. This was his 17th fifty in T20Is (SR: 146.37). Seifert also got to his 38th fifty in T20s. Across 316 games and 291 innings, he has completed 7,412 runs at 29.06. In addition to 38 fifties, he has hit 5 tons. His strike rate is a fine 136.60.