India vs New Zealand, 3rd T20I: 'I told our coach, they deserved to win,' says Virat Kohli after memorable series win

After India's victory in the third Twenty20 International (T20I) against New Zealand on Wednesday, Virat Kohli insisted that the BlackCaps "deserved" to win the match.

The match ended in a tie before Team India won the Super Over. Chasing New Zealand's target of 18, Rohit Sharma smashed two sixes off the last two balls when India needed 10 runs more. It was New Zealand's third Super Over loss, a streak that began with their loss in the World Cup 2019 final.

Batting first, the Indian team posted 179 runs on the board in 20 overs. Had New Zealand captain Kane Williamson stayed till the end, the result could have gone the other way. When the hosts needed two runs off three balls, Williamson batting on 95 got out. Indian fast bowler Mohammed Shami dismissed Ross Taylor on the final ball when the BlackCaps needed just one run to win.

In the post-match interview, Kohli revealed his conversation with India's coach. "I thought we were gone at one stage. I told our coach that they deserved to win. On the last ball, we had a discussion and we came to a conclusion that we had to hit the stumps. Rohit was superb for us. When Shami bowled those two dot balls, I thought we can go to super over.

In the super over, Kane came out and smashed Bumrah who is one of the best death over bowlers in World Cricket. There are a couple of guys who are sitting out like Sundar and Saini, they deserve to get a game," Kohli added.

With the five-match series already won by India, the final two games will be a dead rubber and are scheduled to be played on Friday and Sunday at Wellington's Westpac Stadium and Mount Maunganui's Bay Oval respectively.

After the T20I series, India and New Zealand will face off in a three-match One-Day International (ODI) series followed by two Tests.