- BATSMENRBM4s6sSR1.5 Straight to midwicket! This was a slot ball. Seam up. 130ks at the stumps. Samson stayed in the crease and flicked it. Didn't follow through with the shot. Couldn't keep it down either, easy catch for Ravindra. Jamieson is pumped. Samson doesn't start the series well. 18/111.6 Very high, not far enough! Long-on takes it and Abhishek's 84 off 35 ends. He knew that was gone right off the bat. Was a legbreak on a length at middle and off, he tried to launch it mostly with a vertical bat again. He nailed that a lot of times tonight, not this one 149/42.5 Kishan can't take off either. Went for the boundary option and clothed it to cover. Duffy chops the air in delight. 123ks length ball just outside off. Kishan was coming down the track, a pre-meditated move, and the ball got big on him as he tried to flat-bat it over extra. 27/210.4 SKY holes out to long-on. Came down to the fullish stock ball at the stumps. Given air by Santner. SKY looked to drive it over long-on but mistimed it. Robinson ran forward and took a diving catch 126/315.4 Hardik's cameo ends! He goes like he stayed. Hard-length offcutter at 121ks at the body. Hardik stood back in the crease and pulled it. Got it off the sticker, deep midwicket takes it a few metres inside the boundary 185/613.4 Leading edge right back to the bowler. 122ks back of length cutter at the body, Dube went back and tried to nudge it leg side, too early into the shot. The runs keep coming for India but wickets have been regular too 166/517.5 Mitchell takes it at long-off. Was a fullish ball outside off that Axar tried to reach out to. Couldn't fully do it and ended up skying it 209/7Extras15 (lb 1, w 14)TOTAL238/7 (20 Overs, RR: 11.9)Fall of wickets: 1-18 (Sanju Samson, 1.5 ov), 2-27 (Ishan Kishan, 2.5 ov), 3-126 (Suryakumar Yadav, 10.4 ov), 4-149 (Abhishek Sharma, 11.6 ov), 5-166 (Shivam Dube, 13.4 ov), 6-185 (Hardik Pandya, 15.4 ov), 7-209 (Axar Patel, 17.5 ov)
Bowling O M R W Econ 0s 4s 6s WD NB JA Duffy 4 0 27 2 6.75 14 3 1 3 0 KA Jamieson 4 0 54 2 13.5 6 5 3 3 0 KDC Clarke 4 0 40 1 10 8 2 3 0 0 IS Sodhi 3 0 38 1 12.66 3 4 2 1 0 GD Phillips 1 0 20 0 20 0 3 0 1 0 MJ Santner 3 0 37 1 12.33 3 2 3 1 0 DJ Mitchell 1 0 21 0 21 2 2 2 1 0
Player of the Match
Player of the Match
- BATSMENRBM4s6sSR0.2 Edge... Samson takes a low catch to the left. He didn't step across, just dove the left and got it in his left hand. Was a 132ks fullish ball well wide of off. Conway reaching away for the cover drive. Didn't check the shot and nearly lost his bottom hand. Snicked off. 0/16.3 Robinson charges and falls. Looked to heave it across with a cross-bat, ball went off the sticker, blade turned inside too and the ball went to midwicket. 95ks legbreak with a cross-seam from Varun. Slightly short, sped off the pitch 52/31.3 Ravindra edges to slip and Hardik waves goodbye. 133ks seam-up ball on a length at leg stump. Ravindra charged down the pitch and got cramped for room, went through with the straight drive on top of the bounce. Got a thick edge to first slip 1/213.3 Phillips yells right after hitting as he knew he mistimed this. Dube moved to his right, fell on his right knee and took it low. Was a length ball angling in at the stumps, Phillips looking to pull it, doesn't get all of it. Hit just under the sticker. Axar pumps his fists 131/414.5 Straight up. Abhishek comes in across from long-on and takes it. Chapman charged down and had a horizontal swipe across. Stock ball landed around leg and rose off the pitch. Chapman couldn't deal with the bounce and got a top edge. 143/519.3 Wide and fullish, Mitchell takes a step across and launches a drive off the bottom of the bat. Bishnoi runs left from long-off, takes it and runs along the boundary to SKY's delight 189/619.4 Full toss has been slapped straight to long-on. Clarke's back foot was on the tramline, Dube's plan has been to bowl wide anyway, so he went for the yorker. Clarke hit it from knee-height, not perfectly timed. Two in two for Dube 189/7Extras2 (w 2)TOTAL190/7 (20 Overs, RR: 9.5)Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Devon Conway, 0.2 ov), 2-1 (Rachin Ravindra, 1.3 ov), 3-52 (Tim Robinson, 6.3 ov), 4-131 (Glenn Phillips, 13.3 ov), 5-143 (Mark Chapman, 14.5 ov), 6-189 (Daryl Mitchell, 19.3 ov), 7-189 (Kristian Clarke, 19.4 ov)
Bowling O M R W Econ 0s 4s 6s WD NB Arshdeep Singh 4 0 31 1 7.75 9 3 1 0 0 HH Pandya 2 0 20 1 10 5 2 1 1 0 JJ Bumrah 3 0 29 0 9.66 4 5 0 0 0 AR Patel 3.3 0 42 1 12 5 4 2 1 0 CV Varun 4 0 37 2 9.25 7 1 3 0 0 S Dube 3 0 28 2 9.33 5 1 2 0 0 Abhishek Sharma 0.3 0 3 0 6 1 0 0 0 0
Match Details
Toss
New Zealand , elected to field first
Player Of The Match
Series result
India led the 5-match series 1-0
Match number
Season
Hours of play (local time)
19.00 start, First Session 19.00-20.30, Interval 20.30-20.50, Second Session 20.50-22.20
Match days
21 January 2026 - night match (20-over match)
T20I debut
Umpires
TV Umpires
Reserve Umpire
Match Referee
Match Notes
- Powerplay: Overs 0.1 - 6.0 (Mandatory - 68 runs, 2 wickets)
- India: 50 runs in 4.5 overs (29 balls), Extras 3
- 3rd Wicket: 50 runs in 26 balls (Abhishek Sharma 34, SA Yadav 18, Ex 1)
- Abhishek Sharma: 50 off 22 balls (4 x 4, 4 x 6)
- India: 100 runs in 8.4 overs (52 balls), Extras 8
- Drinks: India - 117/2 in 10.0 overs (Abhishek Sharma 60, SA Yadav 31)
- India: 150 runs in 12.2 overs (74 balls), Extras 10
- India: 200 runs in 17.2 overs (104 balls), Extras 13
- Slow over-rate Penalty: Overs 19.1 - 20.0 (extra fielder inside the circle)
- Innings Break: India - 238/7 in 20.0 overs (RK Singh 44, Arshdeep Singh 6)
- Powerplay: Overs 0.1 - 6.0 (Mandatory - 50 runs, 2 wickets)
- Over 0.5: Review by India (Bowling), Decision Challenged - Wicket, Umpire - R Pandit, Batter - TB Robinson (Struck down)
- New Zealand: 50 runs in 5.6 overs (36 balls), Extras 1
- 3rd Wicket: 50 runs in 28 balls (TB Robinson 21, GD Phillips 28, Ex 1)
- Over 7.2: Review by India (Bowling), Decision Challenged - Wicket, Umpire - Nitin Menon, Batter - MS Chapman (Struck down)
- Drinks: New Zealand - 87/3 in 10.0 overs (GD Phillips 48, MS Chapman 15)
- GD Phillips: 50 off 29 balls (3 x 4, 3 x 6)
- New Zealand: 100 runs in 11.3 overs (69 balls), Extras 2
- 4th Wicket: 50 runs in 30 balls (GD Phillips 28, MS Chapman 22, Ex 1)
- New Zealand: 150 runs in 15.3 overs (93 balls), Extras 2
Match Coverage
All Match NewsRinku showcases his value as India's finisher
He hit 44 not out off 20 in his comeback game, against New Zealand, to tick a big box ahead of the T20 World Cup
Abhishek Sharma fastest to 5000 T20 runs
Stats highlights from the first T20 international between India and New Zealand in Nagpur
New Zealand bowl and hand Kristian Clarke T20I debut
Kuldeep Yadav and Harshit Rana sat out for India, with Axar Patel carded at No. 8
Abhishek and Rinku fireworks help India start series in style
Glenn Phillips' 78 off 40 kept New Zealand's hopes going for a while before India struck regularly to seal victory
Abhishek: I back myself because I don't have a lot of shots
The India opener explained how he prepares for a T20 game and that he relies more on timing than power-hitting




