India suffered a disastrous start in their chase of New Zealand's 333 all out in the fourth ODI at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, losing Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and stand-in captain Shreyas Iyer for ducks in the first over. Rohit fell to the very first delivery of the chase off Matt Henry, and Kohli and Iyer followed in the final two balls of the over, leaving India 0/3.

The collapse made India only the fifth team to lose their first three wickets without a run on the board in 50-over cricket, and the first time the Indian side had done so in that format. Pakistan had done it against New Zealand at the 1983 World Cup at Edgbaston and against South Africa in Lahore in 1997, while Bangladesh did it against Sri Lanka in the 2003 World Cup and Australia did so against Bangladesh in 2026. It was also the first time since 2010 that Rohit and Kohli had both been dismissed for ducks in the same ODI.S1

Ruturaj Gaikwad became the fourth Indian batter out for just five runs, leaving India 9/4 after 5.3 overs. Only once before had India lost their first four wickets for under 10 runs in an ODI, at the 1983 World Cup against Zimbabwe at Tunbridge Wells, a game Kapil Dev later turned around with a legendary unbeaten 175. Rohit's first-ball dismissal also placed him on a list of Indian batters dismissed off the first delivery of an ODI innings, which includes Sourav Ganguly and Virender Sehwag, who did so three times each.S1

The start revived painful memories of the 2019 World Cup semi-final in Manchester, where India were 5/3 in their chase of 241 and went on to lose by 18 runs, with Henry again taking two of those early wickets. Netizens widely drew the same parallel, with the phrase 'Matt Henry giving 2019 WC flashbacks' gaining traction on social media. The disaster came after Will Young's 125 had powered New Zealand to 333 in 50 overs.S1S2