Matt Henry was the star of the show as he picked up 6 wickets, which included three in the opening over to set the tone of the match. Henry was the star of the show, but before that Will Young rode his luck on two dropped chances, and registered his 5th ODI ton and was ably supported by Tim Seifert and Finn Allen as New Zealand made 333 in 50 overs to set the game up.
Thereafter, it was Matt Henry who stole the show with his 6-wicket haul including 3 in the opening over and Matthew Fisher supported him with 3 wickets as well as New Zealand bowled India out for 89 in 26.4 overs. For India, only Ishan Kishan and Axar Patel showed some resistance out there, but it was nowhere near enough. New Zealand are well and truly alive in the series.
Will Young’s superlative 5th ODI ton powers New Zealand to 333 in 50 overs.Â
Put into bat first, Will Young and Tim Seifert came out to open the batting for New Zealand while Arshdeep Singh had the ball in hand for India. Tim Seifert was the aggressor while Young took his time initially. Young rode his luck as he was dropped twice on 5* first by Rohit Sharma at first slip an absolute dolly and then by Ishan Kishan with the gloves on diving away. This allowed Young to settle in the middle.
Seifert was not deterred and dominated the power play scoring a maiden fifty off 38 balls. His innings meant New Zealand were 72/0 in 10 overs of power play. The opening duo put on 85 runs for the first wicket inside 12 overs before Seifert was the first to depart for 58 off 48 balls with 6 fours and 3 sixes to his name to Gurnoor Brar. Nick Kelly came out to bat next. Young and Kelly added 11 runs for the second wicket before Kelly fell for 4 off 8 balls to Axar Patel.
Dean Foxcroft came out to bat next. Young kept the fight going and added 29 runs for the third wicket before Foxcroft fell for 8 off 13 balls to Auqib Nabi. Finn Allen came out to bat next. Allen came and counterpunched as the duo took apart the Indian attack. Kuldeep was in for some harsh treatment as he was taken to the cleaners by both the batters. The duo took the game away from India with their partnership.
The duo of Young and Allen added 90 runs for the 4th wicket before Allen fell for 41 off 30 balls with 5 fours and 2 sixes to his name Axar Patel as Rohit took a good catch at covers. Michael Bracewell came out to bat next. Young completed his ton and went onto add another little stand. The duo added 41 runs for the 5th wicket before Young fell for 125 off 108 balls with 14 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Naman Dhir. Mitchell Santner came out to bat next.
Just 2 runs were added to the tally before Bracewell fell for 15 off 20 balls with one four to his name to Brar. Kristian Clarke came out to the middle to join his captain in the middle. Santner was put down at cover region by Rohit, a tough chance but should have been taken. Santner and Clarke added 35 valuable runs for the 7th wicket before Santner fell for 24 off 29 balls with one four and two sixes to his name to Arshdeep Singh. Kyle Jamieson came out to bat next.
Clarke and Jamieson added handy runs and took the score past 300 runs. The duo added 25 runs for the 8th wicket before Clarke fell for 22 off 22 balls with one four and one six to his name to Auqib Nabi. Matt Henry came out to bat next. Henry and Jamieson added 14 runs for the 9th wicket before Henry fell for 2 off 2 balls to a run out. Matthew Fisher came out to bat with one ball to go and was run out while attempting the second run. Jamieson was unbeaten on 19 off 21 balls with one four to his name as New Zealand finished with 333 in 50 overs. 14 extras given by India.
It was hard work for the Indian bowlers. Axar Patel was the standout with figures of 2/39 in 10 overs. Gurnoor Brar finished with 2/69 in 10 overs. Auqib Nabi finished with 2/59 in 8 overs. Arshdeep Singh finished with 1/55 in 10 overs. Naman Dhir finished with 1/29 in 4 overs. Kuldeep Yadav finished with 0/73 in 8 overs. There were two run outs in the innings as well. This meant that India needed a mammoth 334 runs to win of 50 overs to clinch the series 3-0 with a game to spare.
Matt Henry’s 6-wicket haul bamboozles India for 89 in 26.4 overs.Â
Chasing 334 for the win, Rohit Sharma and Ruturaj Gaikwad came out to open the batting for India while Matt Henry started the proceedings for New Zealand. Henry gave New Zealand the perfect start as he dismissed Rohit first ball for a golden duck. Virat Kohli came out to bat next. The score remained at 0 when Virat was cleaned up for 4th ball duck by Henry. Shreyas Iyer came out to bat next as the captain was pinged in front. He was LBW for a golden duck on usage of DRS.
India were 0/3 after the first over when Ishan Kishan the keeper batter joined Gaikwad in the middle. Ishan and Gaikwad tried to forge a partnership and could add only 9 to the score before Gaikwad fell for 5 off 13 balls balls to Kyle Jamieson. Axar Patel came out to bat next. Axar was given a lifeline on the first ball as Nick Kelly dropped a sitter at backward point. Ishan and Axar tried to show resistance and it was resistance that gave India something to cheer about.
The duo took India to 26/4 in 10 overs of mandatory power play. Ishan showed his talent and so did Axar as the duo took India to some sort of respectability. The duo put on 44 runs for the 5th wicket and took the score past 50 before Axar fell for 21 off 36 balls with 3 fours to his name to Matthew Fisher. Naman Dhir the last recognised batter came out to bat next. Ishan and Naman added 8 runs for the 6th wicket before Ishan fell for 27 off 53 balls with 4 fours to his name to Henry who cleaned him up. Auqib Nabi came out to bat next.
Naman and Nabi tried to forge a stand and could add 5 runs to the score before Nabi fell for 5 off 8 balls with one four to his name to Fisher. Kuldeep Yadav came out to bat next. Just 3 runs were added to the tally before Kuldeep fell for 1 off 4 balls to Henry who cleaned him up. Gurnoor Brar came out to bat next. Naman had no choice to play his shots and hit a couple of big ones out of the ground. Naman and Gurnoor added 14 runs for the 9th wicket before Naman fell for 21 off 24 balls with 2 sixes to his name to Fisher yet again.
Arshdeep Singh came out to bat last. The last wicket pair added 6 runs to the score before Brar fell for 2 off 13 balls to Henry who finished with 6 wickets. Arshdeep finished with an unbeaten 0 off 3 balls as India were skittled out for 89 in 26.4 overs. 7 extras given by the fielding side.
New Zealand had a field day with the ball in hand. Matt Henry was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 6/27 in 9.4 overs. Matthew Fisher finished with 3/31 in 7 overs. Kyle Jamieson finished with 1/12 in 6 overs. Kristian Clarke finished with 0/13 in 2 overs. Michael Bracewell finished with 0/6 in 2 overs. So, New Zealand thrashed India by 244 runs to keep the series alive. India’s lead now is 2-1. Matt Henry was adjudged the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead.Â
So, New Zealand have roared back with a 244-run win and made the series 2-1 in India’s favour with one game abandoned. The final ODI is set to be played at the same venue at Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui. It is on Sunday, 15th November, 2026 at 7:30 AM IST. Can India win the series? Or will New Zealand manage to level the series 2-2 and draw it square? We shall find that answer on Super Sunday.
Also Read: NZ VS IND: Will Young’s 5th ODI Ton Crushes India.