Table of Contents
India vs New Zealand's fifth and final T20I match has been played at Seddon Park, Hamilton. The Men in Blue have already won the series after winning the first three games. In the fifth match, Tilak Varma yet again failed to up the run rate as he was dismissed in the over he survived after getting out on a no-ball.
The Men in Blue marked their first away T20I series victory in the SENA country under Iyer. They have been in good form in this series, but were handed a heavy defeat in the last game as the T20 World Cup champions look to fight back in the last game and finish the series on high before the focus shifts to the ODI series.
Tilak Varma suffers a bizarre double dismissal in the same over
During the 13.2th over, Tilak Varma tried to play the ball on the leg side, and he made the mistake of closing the face of the bat too early; the thick leading edge looped to the right of Finn Allen, who took a brilliant catch of Nathan Smith’s delivery, but the Southpaw was asked to wait after it was a no-ball.
However, he did not survive much in the 13.4th over; Tilak Varma yet again tried to pull the ball as it bounced a bit more than expected and came in with pace, with Nathan Smith taking a simple catch of his own bowling as the batter was not lucky for the second time and was dismissed for just 6 runs off 8 deliveries.
A moment of brilliance in the field by Finn Allen, undone by a no-ball! 💀 Watch the HERO VIDA India Tour of New Zealand 5th T20I, LIVE NOW on Sony Sports Network TV channels & Sony LIV. #SonySportsNetwork #SonyLIV #SonyVizha #NZvIND https://t.co/xEQMAl0e4i
— Sony Sports Network (@SonySportsNetwk) November 1, 2026
Tilak Varma Gone 😭 #INDvsNZ https://t.co/1Hv09KGUe9
— Cricket Blaze (@CricketBlaze45) November 1, 2026
Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan shines for India
New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first, as the Men in Blue made some changes to their side in the final T20I game. They brought back Bhuvneshwar Kumar for Mayank Yadav, and Varun Chakravarthy came in for Axar Patel. The Kiwis made one change with Bill Tickner coming in for Matt Fisher.
The home side had a brilliant start as they picked the two dangerous openers, Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, early on in the innings. But Ishan Kishan had other plans as he showcased why he has been India’s best batter in 2026, as he and skipper Shreyas Iyer stitched a 93-run partnership off 43 balls and counterattacked the Kiwi bowlers.
Kishan played a sensational knock of 61 runs off 32 deliveries, smashing five fours and as many sixes. Then Iyer also brought up his fifty in 23 balls as he smacked four sixes and three fours. However, after they were both back in the pavilion, the run rate dropped a bit.
India's middle order fails to convert to a big score
Then in the middle overs, Tilak Varma and Naman Dhir tried to up the run rate, but Tilak Varma failed to score many runs. The latter played a solid knock of 33 runs off 23. He was given small support from Nitish Kumar Reddy, who scored 22 runs. Some runs from Bhuvneshwar Kumar helped India to post a decent total of 191 runs.
Adam Milne was the pick of the bowlers with 4/19 in his four overs. Blair Tickner and Nathan Smith picked two wickets each. This is going to be tough for the India bowlers to defend on small ground.
