Tim Seifert's improvement comes at the right time for New Zealand
A batter who seemed to lean a little too much on the funky shots comes to the T20 World Cup as a much more rounded threat
Alagappan Muthu
Feb 7, 2026, 3:59 PM • 13 hrs ago
The allure of Tim Seifert was there for all to see. That his strength could become a crutch was less evident.
Four months after the end of the 2019 World Cup final, England and New Zealand found themselves in a Super Over situation again.
Seifert had scored 39 off 16 in regular time, playing largely in front of the ground. In the Super Over, he faced four legals and attempted to scoop two of them. The ease with which he plays behind the wicket really does set him apart. And in high-pressure situations, players do fall back on their go-tos. But fine leg was back. And this was Eden Park. It's straight boundaries are tiny. Still Seifert had made up his mind. He went early. Chris Jordan saw it. He slipped in the wide yorker. Seifert missed the ramp.
High-risk shots are fun and they need to stay in the game to keep it interesting. Just that the best batters choose a better time to go for them. Also, when their backs are against the wall, they can pull out a bigger range of shots. It is somewhat startling to realise that, according to ESPNcricinfo's ball-by-ball data, Seifert has a strike rate of 20 playing the leg side slog in the death overs (17 to 20) of a T20I. That's two runs off 10 balls with four dismissals. He'd learned to run before he could walk but the not walking part sometimes came back to bite him.
Seifert's journey to fix that - and have more options to fall back on - took him all over the world, crossing paths with Brendon McCullum, Ricky Ponting, Phil Simmons, David Warner, Kieron Pollard. For nearly two years, between 2021 and 2023, he didn't play any games for New Zealand. But he did play a couple at the IPL, a handful at the T20 blast, an entire season of the CPL and the Super Smash. During this period, he scored his first hundred in nearly five years. He was getting better.
In April 2023, Seifert earned his place back with the Black Caps. Having grown his game he was even given his preferred role as opening batter. This time he flourished, scoring eight of his 13 career half-centuries, including three back-to-back in his first four innings on comeback. His T20I average which was 22.81 in his first 38 innings went up to 35.26 in his next 39. Strike rate jumped from 129 pre-comeback to 154 post-comeback.
Now he shapes as a key member of the New Zealand line-up preparing to undo the evils of 2024 when for the first time in nine years they failed to make the semi-finals of an ICC event.
The assumption made when talking about a 360-degree batter is that he actually had the 180-degree game and then improved on it. Seifert finally fits that now.
"I think he's definitely developed a few more shots," Mitchell Santner said, "But he's always had the 360-ish element of his game, and I think as all bowlers will agree, when you're bowling against guys who can hit everywhere, especially in the powerplay. It's a challenge where you put your two men out, what's your best ball to bowl. I know teams like to set up with wide fine legs, and then you start scooping and then guys have to change, and so it makes it a challenge."
The T20 World Cup and Seifert got off to a rough start. He was supposed to play the 2021 edition, which he eventually did, batting out of position, for two games, scoring eight runs each. Three years later, despite good form, he couldn't put himself into a squad that was already packed with top-order players. Kane Williamson was captain, Rachin Ravindra was the investment, Devon Conway was IPL champion and Finn Allen was the high-risk-high-reward option New Zealand were willing to take. All of it backfired. Their opening partnership in 2024 averaged 11. If Seifert can prove more hit than miss, that should fix itself this time and the rest will follow through.
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo