A breathtaking opening onslaught from Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi powered the Indian cricket team to a six-wicket win over New Zealand in Wellington on Tuesday.
The win helped India seal the five-match NZ vs IND T20 2026 series with an unassailable 3-0 lead.
Chasing 199 in the third match of the series, India raced to their fastest team fifty in men’s T20Is in just 2.2 overs before smashing a record 118/0 in the powerplay.
Abhishek top-scored with a stunning 113 off 38 balls, including a 35-ball hundred, while Sooryavanshi hammered 45 off 19. India eventually reached 199/4 in just 13.2 overs, with 40 balls to spare.
Earlier, the New Zealand cricket team posted 198/3 after reaching 58/1 in the powerplay. Daryl Mitchell led the hosts with an unbeaten 89 off 52 balls, while Finn Allen made 40 and Bevon Jacobs was 39 not out.
Arshdeep Singh (1/33), Axar Patel (1/36) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/38) took one wicket each.
Indian T20 captain Shreyas Iyer had won the toss and elected to field first.
Tim Seifert fell for early after Arshdeep struck in the second over, but Allen counter-attacked with a 25-ball 40, hitting five sixes.
Allen and Mitchell added 86 runs for the second wicket before Nitish removed Allen in the ninth over.
Glenn Phillips made 17 off 14 before offering a return catch to Axar, leaving New Zealand at 123/3 after 12 overs.
Mitchell, however, kept the hosts moving and brought up his fifty off 26 balls and finished having struck five fours and as many sixes.
He combined with Jacobs to share an unbeaten 75-run fourth-wicket stand with Mitchell and helped the hosts post 198/3 as India restricted New Zealand to below 200.
India then launched a remarkable assault on the target.
Sooryavanshi and Abhishek brought up India’s 50 in just 2.2 overs – the team’s fastest fifty in men’s T20I cricket.
Abhishek raced to his half-century in only 15 balls as India stormed to 118/0 after six overs – the highest powerplay total recorded in men’s T20I cricket.
Romania held the previous record for the highest powerplay score in T20Is, having made 116/0 against Serbia in 2021. Among Full Member nations, Australia held the record with 113/1 against Scotland in 2024.
Sooryavanshi departed for 45, with four fours and four sixes, in the eighth over after the opening pair had put on 133 runs.
Abhishek continued the onslaught and brought up his hundred off 35 balls – the joint-second-fastest T20I century by an Indian.
The left-hander eventually fell for 113 off 38 deliveries after smashing nine fours and 11 sixes, leaving India at 178/2 after 10 overs and needing only 21 more to win.
Sanju Samson made 18 before Kyle Jamieson removed him, while Shreyas fell for five to Mitchell Santner. Naman Dhir then struck the winning boundary as India completed the chase in 13.2 overs.
The fourth match of the series will be played in Auckland on Friday.
NZ vs IND T20 2026, 3rd match, brief scores: New Zealand 198/3 in 20 overs (Daryl Mitchell 89 not out; Arshdeep Singh 1/33) lost to India 199/4 in 13.2 overs (Abhishek Sharma 113; Kyle Jamieson 2/45) by six wickets.
READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/new-zealand-vs-india-t20-cricket-2026-match-3-report
