India has defeated New Zealand in dominant fashion in the third T20I by six wickets to register the series win, with two matches to go. This win came off the back of a stellar century by Abhishek Sharma and a record-breaking opening stand.
The New Zealand vs India 3rd T20I was played today at Wellington Regional Stadium in the national capital of Wellington. On a pitch that promised to get better for batting as it gets older, the Men in Blue won the toss and decided to bat first.
New Zealand vs India 3rd T20I: Here Is What Happened
Bhuvneshwar Kumar opened the bowling for India and bowled a fine over, conceding only four runs to the Kiwi opening pair of Finn Allen and Tim Seifert. Then, in the second over, Arshdeep Singh dismissed Seifert cheaply, as the wicketkeeper/batter got out for two off six.
The duo of Allen and the incoming Daryl Mitchell picked up the pace for the remainder of the powerplay, scoring boundaries and sixes in every over. So, the score at the end of the sixth over was 58/1.
Axar Patel was introduced at the end of the powerplay and was hit for two sixes in his first over; Prince Yadav suffered the same fate in the next.
Nitish Kumar Reddy then, in his first over, provided some relief by dismissing Finn Allen, who tried to hit a full delivery over the long straight boundary, but was caught right at the rope after a brilliant effort by Naman Dhir for 40 off 25.
As the 10th over came to an end, the score was 100/2, and we now had a high-scoring game on our hands.
In the 11th over, Mitchell brought up his half-century with a six, taking 26 balls to reach the milestone. But it was not all sunshine and rainbows for the BlackCaps, as on the last ball of the 12th over, Axar caught and bowled Glenn Phillips, who had been his team’s shining light over the last two matches.
The run rate declined as only 33 runs came off the next four overs. So heading into the final phase of the innings, New Zealand were at 156/3, still in line for a score of 200.
However, the Indian pace attack kept their nerves, as three of the last four overs of the innings came for only nine runs each. And despite a 15-run over in the 19th, the Kiwis fell just short of a double hundred, ending their 20-over innings at 198/3.
The Abhishek Sharma Show
While India made no changes to their starting 11 today, they did make a massive change in their batting line-up. Tonight’s opening duo for the Indian Cricket Team were Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The 15-year-old got a chance to play in the last game but was disappointed while batting at No. 3, making just four out of eight.
However, this opening partnership was going to create history tonight. The very first over of the second innings, bowled by Jacob Duffy, went for 26 runs. Vaibhav hit a six and a four, while Abhishek hit a maximum as well.
The momentum didn’t halt after the first over, as the second over went for 17 runs, and the third for 21. Abhishek Sharma brought up his 50 in the fourth over with a six in just 15 deliveries. That over went for 20 runs.
With 16 runs coming in the fifth over, India had made 100 runs in just five overs, while chasing 199 in 20. And as 18 runs were scored in the sixth over of the innings, this Indian Cricket Team had shattered a world record.
This is the highest score in the powerplay in a T20 international game. The record was previously held by Romania, who made 116 with no loss of wickets on June 26, 2021, against Serbia. Among Test-playing nations, Australia held the record with 113 runs scored against Scotland in Edinburgh when they finished the powerplay at 113/1 on September 4, 2024.
But the match was not over yet. Well, it was all but over; however, the chase was still to be completed.
At the start of the eighth over, Sooryavanshi, who had a good showing tonight, was dismissed by Matthew Fisher after a fine running catch by Daryl Mitchell. The teenager scored 45 off 19 before getting out. At this point, the score was 133/1.
Abhishek Sharma did not stop yet. By the end of this over, he was batting at 95 off 29, one ball away from matching his own record for the fastest T20I 100 by a player from a Test-playing nation. But the idea of matching any records was spoiled by New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner, who gave away just six runs in the next over.
Abhishek did reach the triple-digit milestone in the 10th over with a four, taking 35 balls to do so. And after hitting a boundary and a six after his century, he was dismissed by Kyle Jamieson for 113 off 38.
The innings, naturally, allowed down a bit following the wicket. But by this, the score was already 178/2, with 21 runs required in 10 overs.
Captain Shreyas Iyer, who should have finished the match, didn’t, getting out for just five off 10. And neither did Sanju Samson, getting out soon after for 18 off 13. But the match was done by that point, as on the very next ball, Naman Dhir finished it off with a boundary as the Men in Blue won this New Zealand vs India 3rd T20I by six wickets and with 40 balls to spare.
Abhishek Sharma was named the Player of the Match for a brilliant and record-breaking knock. This Indian Cricket Team looked scary with the bat tonight.
With this win, the Men in Blue have won this five-match T20I series on foreign soil in just three matches. And while the first two games were quite close, we saw only dominance from the Indians today.
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