Glenn Phillips showed his class and consistency alongside power as his innings destroyed India from ball one to the end. Glenn Phillips was the star with 107 off 49 balls while Michael Bracewell supported him with his 65 off 25 balls and others played crucial contributions as the Kiwis posted 259/7 in 20 overs with Finn Allen also getting a good score. Mayank Yadav picked up 3 wickets for India.
In reply, Jacob Duffy picked up 4 wickets while captain Mitchell Santner picked up 2 wickets while the other bowlers chipped in as New Zealand put in an all-round bowling display to restrict India to 172/9 in 20 overs with Tilak Varma scoring a run a ball 35 being the top-scorer. It was a struggle for the Indians for sure. India lost by 87 runs and now lead the series 3-1.
Glenn Phillips’ marvellous 3rd T20I ton hammers India as New Zealand post 259/7 in 20 overs.Â
Put into bat first, keeper batter Tim Seifert and Finn Allen walked out to open the batting for New Zealand while Mayank Yadav had the ball in hand for India. India got an early breakthrough as Seifert’s poor run continued. The opening duo added 5 runs for the first wicket before Seifert fell for 3 off 5 balls to Mayank Yadav. Daryl Mitchell came out to bat next.
After a quiet first couple of overs, Mitchell took the attack to Mayank by smashing him for fours and sixes for fun. The duo of Allen and Mitchell added 29 runs for the second wicket in no time before Mitchell fell for a quickfire 24 off 9 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Mayank who got him LBW as Mitchell wasted the DRS as well. Glenn Phillips came out to bat next and the consistent batter looked at ease out there.
Allen got less of the strike but when he got, he showed his class too. The duo took New Zealand to 67/2 in 6 overs of power play. They upped the ante post the field restrictions and took the attack to the Indian bowlers. Axar Patel came as Allen took him on smashing 18 off his over. The duo of Phillips and Allen added 59 runs for the third wicket before Allen fell for 31 off 17 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Axar Patel. Bevon-John Jacobs came out to bat next.
The duo started to forge a partnership and took the Kiwis to 109/3 in 10 overs at the halfway stage of the game when we paused for Drinks break. The duo of Phillips and Jacobs added 19 runs for the third wicket before Jacobs fell for 7 off 7 balls to Mayank. Michael Bracewell came out to bat next. The Kiwis were 112/4 in 10.4 overs when Bracewell joined Phillips in the middle. What followed next was carnage for the Indian bowlers.
It was Bracewell who took the pressure away from Phillips and went about his business. He tore apart the Indian attack in the back half of the innings while Phillips was in his zone. It was attack from both ends and it was hard to stop now for the Indians. The duo complemented each other really well. The duo just dominated the Indian attack from the start to the finish.
Both the players were like a rampaging river which is unstoppable. The duo added a match-winning and turning 115 runs off 41 balls for the 5th wicket with Bracewell completing his half-century in 19 balls and Phillips nearing his 3rd T20I ton. The score was 227 when Bracewell fell for 65 off 25 balls with 4 fours and 6 sixes to his name to Prince Yadav. Captain Mitchell Santner came out to bat next.
Soon, Phillips reached his ton off 45 balls, his 3rd T20I ton. The captain and Phillips put on 19 runs for the 6th wicket before Santner fell for 5 off 6 balls to Arshdeep Singh who got to his 150th T20I wicket. Nathan Smith came out to bat next. Phillips hit a maximum to start the final over to bring up New Zealand’s 250. Thereafter he fell. 6 runs were added to the score before Phillips fell for a magnificent 107 off 49 balls with 6 fours and 10 sixes to his name to Nitish Kumar Reddy.
Adam Milne came out to bat next and got off the mark. The duo added 7 runs off the last 4 balls including a boundary to Smith off the last ball of the innings as the Kiwis ended with a massive 259/7 on the board in 20 overs. Smith was unbeaten on 6 off 3 balls with one four to his name while Milne was unbeaten on 1 off 1 ball. 10 extras given by the fielding side.
It was hard work and leather hunt for the Indian bowlers. Mayank Yadav finished with 3/48 in 4 overs and was good with the new ball. Arshdeep Singh finished with 1/38 in 4 overs. Prince Yadav finished with 1/49 in 4 overs. Nitish Kumar Reddy finished with 1/64 in 4 overs including 32 runs in an over hit by Phillips. Axar Patel finished with 1/43 in 3 overs. Naman Dhir bowled an over for 16 runs. It meant that India needed a massive 260 runs to win the match and take a 4-0 lead in the 5-match series in a record run chase for them.
Jacob Duffy’s 4-wicket haul restricts India to 172/9 in 20 overs to hand a comfortable win for New Zealand.Â
Chasing a record total of 260 runs, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma came out to bat for India while Jacob Duffy had the ball in hand for New Zealand. Samson got off the mark with a boundary. But Duffy drew first blood for the Kiwis as Samson was dismissed for 4 off 2 balls with one four to his name. Keeper-batter Ishan Kishan came out to bat next. Duffy had two wickets in the over as Kishan fell for a 3-ball duck. Captain Shreyas Iyer came out to bat next and got off the mark with a boundary.
Abhishek and Shreyas tried to repair the job and put on a partnership in the power play. Abhishek got a start and so did Shreyas. The duo put on 46 runs for the third wicket before Abhishek fell for 27 off 15 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name to Matthew Fisher. Axar Patel came out to bat next. Shreyas looked fluent and got a start as well. Just 6 runs were added to the tally before Shreyas fell for 22 off 11 balls with 4 fours to his name as he was cleaned by Adam Milne.
Nitish Kumar Reddy came out to bat next inside the power play. India were 61/4 in 6 overs of power play. Nitish and Axar tried to forge some sort of a stand and added 30 runs for the 6th wicket before Axar fell for 7 off 9 balls with one four to his name to Mitchell Santner. Tilak Varma came out to bat next. India were 86/5 in 8.1 overs. Just 3 runs were added to the tally before Axar fell for 7 off 9 balls with one boundary to his name to Santner. Naman Dhir came out to bat next and the game was as good as over.
Tilak and Naman showed resistance in the middle and continued the fight for India albeit in a losing cause. Naman played his shots as well. The duo added 32 runs for the 7th wicket before Naman fell for a quick fire 28 off 13 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes to his name to Duffy. Arshdeep Singh came out to bat next. Arshdeep came and went for a golden duck as Duffy had two in two balls and was on a hat-trick. Prince Yadav came and faced the hat-trick ball and survived it.
Tilak and Prince showed some resistance out there to give the score some respectability to the score. Tilak played a pain staking innings at run a ball. The duo added 37 runs for the 9th wicket before Tilak fell for 35 off 35 balls with one four and three sixes to his name to Matthew Fisher. Mayank Yadav walked out to bat last. The two Yadavs decided and managed to play out the full quota of 20 overs. Prince hit some boundaries here and there. Mayank dealt in singles.
The duo added 14 runs unbroken for the 10th wicket as India finished with 172/9 in 20 overs. The last wicket pair batted out 8 balls. Prince stayed unbeaten on 18 off 17 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name while Mayank remained unbeaten on 3 off 4 balls. 7 extras given by the fielding side.
New Zealand bowlers bowled magnificently out there. Jacob Duffy was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/23 in 4 overs. Captain Mitchell Santner finished with figures of 2/24 in 4 overs. Matthew Fisher finished with figures of 2/40 in 4 overs. Adam Milne finished with figures of 1/35 in 4 overs. Nathan Smith finished with 0/47 in 4 overs. Just 5 bowlers used by New Zealand tonight. So, New Zealand wins this by a whopping 87 runs to make it 1-3 in the series. Glenn Phillips was awarded the Player of the Match Award.
What Lies Ahead.Â
Despite losing the series already, New Zealand pull one back and hit back with a commanding 87-run win in Auckland. With the series reading 3-1 in India’s favour, we move to Seddon Park in Hamilton for the fifth and final T20I. The match is set on November 1st, 2026 from 12:30 PM IST. Will India bounce back and make it 4-1 or will New Zealand make it 2-3? Let’s see how the series finale turns out in Hamilton on Super Sunday.
Also Read: NZ VS IND: Glenn Phillips’ Breathtaking 3rd T20I Ton Decimates India.