Christchurch: They travelled a long way and arrived in New Zealand less than 48 hours before the T20I series-opener, having played the final game of the home series against the West Indies on October 17 in Bengaluru.
Yet, Shreyas Iyer’s men showed no signs of jet lag at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval on Thursday, achieving their highest-ever successful chase in T20 Internationals to go one-up in the five-match series.
Asked to bat first, New Zealand motored their way to an impressive 225/4, thanks mainly to an unbeaten 82 (40 balls, 8×4, 3×6) by Glenn Phillips.
But that total started looking inadequate as Indian openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma went hammer and tongs from the word go. It rained sixes and fours as the right-left combo smashed the fast bowlers all around the ground.
Abhishek departed for a 12-ball 29 (2×4, 3×6) as India galloped to 94/1 in six overs of power play.
Then came a few hiccups as India lost momentum after the dismissal of Samson (67 off 33 balls, 8×4, 4×6). Three wickets in the space of nine balls pushed India to 122/4.
Skipper Shreyas Iyer (42 off 28) and Axar Patel (24 off 14) put the chase back on track before Naman Dhir played a blinder to take India over the line.
Batting-allrounder Dhir, who made his T20I debut earlier this month, smacked five fours and two sixes in a 15-ball unbeaten 42 as India won with 2 balls to spare.
4️⃣2️⃣* Runs 1️⃣5️⃣ Balls 2️⃣8️⃣0️⃣ Strike Rate 5️⃣ Fours & 2️⃣ Sixes How good was that match-winning finish from Naman Dhir? 👇 Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/ADfFnxXGzz #TeamIndia | #NZvIND https://t.co/4PgLm8Rbim
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 22, 2026
BRIEF SCORES
New Zealand 225/4 in 20 overs (Glenn Phillips 82 not out, Finn Allen 45; Mayank Yadav 1/40).
India 230/6 in 19.4 overs (Sanju Samson 67, Naman Dhir 42*, Shreyas Iyer 42; Michael Bracewell 2/37, Mitchell Santner 2/39).
Player of the Match: Sanju Samson
2nd T20I: India vs NZ on Oct 24, Christchurch.