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Abhishek, SKY destroy New Zealand; India seal series 3-0

Sun, 25 January 2026

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21:43

India hammer NZ by 8 wickets with 10 overs to spare

Abhishek Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav.

India 155-2 (10 ovs) vs NZ 153-9 | SCORECARD

Part-time spinner Glenn Phillips into the attack. Suryakumar misses the sweep before he flicks the next powerfully over midwicket for a six followed by one to long-on.

Abhishek carefully taps the next ball into the gap at midwicket for a quiet single.

'What have we seen just now? Just pushed it for a single?' exclaims Sunil Gavaskar on commentary.

Suryakumar slog sweeps the fifth ball over midwicket for a four to race to his fifty from 25 balls -- his second in a row.

India race past the 150-run mark in just 9.5 overs.

He hammers the last ball again through midwicket for a four to take India to a thumping eight-wicket victory with 10 overs to spare.

The Kiwi bowlers won't forget this thrashing in a hurry. A brutal exhibition of strokeplay from the Indian batters as they chase down 155 in only 10 overs as the match was over even before the drinks break was taken.

Abhishek smashed 68 from 20 balls, hitting five sixes and seven fours, at a an amazing strike rate of 340.

Suryakumar continued his good form with another fifty, as he stroked 57 not out from 26 balls, with six fours and three sixes.

The two batters took the Kiwi bowlers to the cleaners, as they put on 102 runs for the third wicket from just 40 balls.

India sealed the five-match series 3-0 with two matches still to come.

21:34

Abhishek slams 14-ball fifty; SKY on fire!

India 139-2 (9 ovs) vs NZ 153-9 | SCORECARD

New Zealand seem clueless against Abhishek. Santner's half-tracker is hammered through long-on for a four before he hits the next to long-off for one.

Suryakumar also bossing things as he sweeps Santner from outside the line of off-stump past the fielder at short fine leg for a four.

He comes down the track to loft Santner straight back over his head for a six to bring the target under 20 and keeps strike with one from the last ball.

21:31

Abhishek slams 14-ball fifty; India set for win

India 122-2 (8 ovs) vs NZ 153-9 | SCORECARD

Leg-spinner Sodhi is back into the attack. Suryakumar powerfully sweeps the first ball through square leg for a four. The next ball is too wide as the India captain cuts it past point for another boundary to continue the flow of boundaries.

A cracking whip shot off his pads off the fourth ball for two runs to deep midwicket.

Abhishek is having a blast out in the middle, hitting sixes for fun! Sodhi gives it a bit of air and the young opener lofts it straight down the ground for his fifth six.

Abhishek has smashed his way to 62 from 17 balls, while Suryakumar has got 30 from the same number of balls.

21:27

Abhishek Sharma slams 14-ball fifty; India dominate

Abhishek Sharma

India 105-2 (7 ovs) vs NZ 153-9 | SCORECARD

Left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner comes into the attack. Suryakumar continues to attack as he cuts the first ball between point and short thirdman for a four.

Santner has a confident shout for leg before wicket turned down against Suryakumar before he takes the review.

But the ball is bouncing over the stumps as the decision stays and Kiwis end up losing the review.

Suryakumar takes a single off the fifth ball and Abhishek plays a beautiful inside out lofted shot for a four as India race past 100, in the seventh over.

21:23

Abhishek slams 14-ball fifty; India dominate

India 94-2 (6 ovs) vs NZ 153-9 | SCORECARD

Duffy back into the attack. Abhishek uses his feet and makes room before he manages to hit the slower ball over the covers for a four.

He takes one next ball before Suryakumar plays his trademark whip off his pads for a six over square leg as even India coach Gautam Gambhir looks stunned.

Abhishek makes most off a full toss, slicing it over the off-side for a four. He pulls the last ball for a six over fine leg to race to fifty from just 14 balls.

This is the second fastest fifty by an Indian batter in T20 Internationals after Abhishek's mentor Yuvraj Singh, who had stroked a 12-ball fifty against England in the 2007 T20 World Cup, when he had smashed six sixes in a over.

India racing to victory as they smash their way to 94/2 in six overs. This is India's second highest runs scored in a Powerplay after 95/1 against England at Wankhede last year.

India set for an easy victory, with 60 needed from 14 overs at just above four per over.

21:18

Abhishek's assault puts India in control

Abhishek Sharma

India 72-2 (5 ovs) vs NZ 153-9 | SCORECARD

This was India's quickest 50 in T20 Internationals, having got there in just 3.1 overs. Their previous best was 3.4 overs against Bangladesh at the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023.

Matt Henry back into the attack. Suryakumar gets two runs off the first ball courtesy of a misfield before he takes a quick run off the third.

Abhishek miscues the slower ball as the ball clears Santner running back from mid-off for two runs. However, he pulls the next into the stands at midwicket for a six and keeps strike with a single from the last ball.

Abhishek looking in a rush to end the match early, having smashed 36 from 10 balls.

21:12

Ishan Kishan out for 28; India lose 2nd wicket

India 60-2 (4 ovs) vs NZ 153-9 | SCORECARD

A desperate New Zealand introduce leg-spinner Ish Sodhi. Kishan swings the first ball powerfully through midwicket for a four as Mark Chapman fails to stop the ball cleanly.

India race past the 50-run mark in just 3.1 overs.

However, the move to introduce Sodhi pays off for the Kiwis. He strikes with the big wicket of Kishan, who pulls it straight to Chapman at deep midwicket.

Kishan walks back after a blistering 28 from 13 balls, with two sixes and three fours.

Suryakumar Yadav also showing intent as he flicks Sodhi uppishly through midwicket for two runs and he takes one off the fifth ball.

Abhishek lofts the full toss down the ground for a boundary, comfortably clearing the fielder at mid-off.

Abhishek boasting of an incredible strike rate of nearly 400, having smashed 26 from seven balls.

21:07

3rd T20 Updates: Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan on the attack!

India 49-1 (3 ovs) vs NZ 153-9 | SCORECARD

Kyle Jamieson into the attack. Kishan hits the first ball across the line through midwicket for two runs before he hits the next to covers for a rare dot ball.

He pulls the third ball for a single to deep square leg and Abhishek lofts the fourth ball over the off-side for two runs. The umpire initially ruled it one short but the replays showed he had crossed his bat over the line at the non-striker's end.

Abhishek swings and misses but the short ball is down the leg side and is ruled a wide.

Abhishek comes down and makes room to carve Jamieson over the off-side for a boundary to continue the assault in the Powerplay.

He misses out on the ramp shot off a slower bouncer but it is ruled a wide. Abhishek uses his feet to slice the last ball over point for a six to get 17 from the over.

India racing to 49/1 in three overs with Abhishek stroking 23 from six balls and Kishan hitting 24 from 11 balls with both batters looking in a boundary-hitting competition.

21:00

3rd T20 Updates: India on the attack after Samson's wicket

Ishan Kishan

India 32-1 (2 ovs) vs NZ 153-9 | SCORECARD

Jacob Duffy from the other end. Abhishek Sharma wastes no time in getting his eye in. He jumps down the track to swing Duffy over midwicket for a six off the first ball he faces.

He taps the next ball for a single before Kishan plays a one-handed loft over mid-on for a four and then takes one to long-on.

Abhishek plays a cheeky ramp shot off the last ball, using the pace quite well for a boundary over short thirdman for a four.

20:55

3rd T20 Updates: Sanju Samson out for first-ball duck!

India 16-1 (1 ov) vs NZ 153-9 | SCORECARD

Sanju Samson in desperate need of runs in this match after two failures in a row as he walks out to open the batting with Abhishek Sharma.

However, it turns out to be another failure for Samson as he is bowled for a first-ball duck by Matt Henry.

Samson looks to flick it across the line but misses the ball as it brushes the pads before striking the stumps.

Samson's poor run with the bat continues with scores of 10, 6 and 0 in the first three games.

No 3 Ishan Kishan is beaten on the outside edge first ball he faces as he pokes without any footwork.

However, the next ball is despatched bang off the middle as the left-hander carts Henry wide of long-on for a six to get India off the mark.

The next ball is short and this time Kishan pulls it over deep square leg for another six and clips the fifth ball off his pads for a four through fine leg.

A wicket off the first ball before Kishan counter-attacked with 6, 6, 4 to get 16 from the first over.

20:38

Clinical India restrict New Zealand to 153

Jasprit Bumrah

NZ 153-9 (20 ovs) vs India | SCORECARD

Rana comes back into the attack. Santner hammers the first ball, a slower ball, powerfully over long-on for a six. He tries to ramp the next ball over the wicketkeeper but fails to connect before he takes one on the off-side.

Ish Sodhi plays and misses before he takes one and Santner manages just a single off the last ball.

Bumrah to bowl the final over. He dents New Zealand further with the wicket of Santner, who holes out to deep midwicket to fall for 27 from 17 balls.

No 11 Jacob Duffy gets off the mark with a single before a high bouncer from Bumrah goes over the wicketkeeper and Rana manages to keep the ball inside but his boot has touched the boundary. Five wides give New Zealand's total a boost as a single off the next ball takes them past 150.

Duffy miscues the heave for two runs to midwicket and he can only get one off the last ball.

Bumrah finishes with splendid figures of 3/17 from four overs, including 11 dot balls, as India restrict New Zealand to 153/9 in their 20 overs.

Hardik finished with 2/23 while Bishnoi picked up 2/18 as the Indian bowlers sent down a total of 46 dot balls.

Glenn Phillips stroked a fine 48 from 40 balls, while Chapman hit 32 from 23 balls.

20:28

Bumrah strikes again as New Zealand collapse

NZ 135-8 (18 ovs) vs India | SCORECARD

Dube back to bowl the 17th over as India try out the medium pacer in the death overs, with an eye on the T20 World Cup.

Jamieson hits the first ball down to long-off for a single and Santner slaps the next through the off-side for a four followed by one.

Jamieson picks another run before Santner smashes the last ball straight down the ground for the second four of the over.

Bumrah, who has two overs in hand, comes back to bowl the 18th over. The lanky Jamieson attempts a big swipe across the line but fails to connect and is bowled for 3.

Bumrah picks up his second wicket as New Zealand slip to 132/7 in the 18th over.

Things going from bad to worse as Matt Henry is run out for one, going for an impossible second run to keep Santner on strike.

Santner gets a single off the fifth ball and Ish Sodhi can only defend the yorker last ball.

20:17

3rd T20 Updates: Hardik, Bishnoi leave New Zealand in a mess

NZ 121-6 (16 ovs) vs India | SCORECARD

Bishnoi continues his superb showing with the ball. He leaves New Zealand in further mess with the big wicket of Phillips, who fails to get enough power on the pull shot and is caught at deep midwicket after scoring 48 from 40 balls.

Two wickets off two balls for Bishnoi after he got a wicket off the last ball of his second over.

Kyle Jamieson denies him the hat-trick as he takes a single to long-on and Santner slaps the third ball through the covers for two runs.

Santner hits the fifth ball straight down the ground as Shivam Dube makes a lazy effort to concede a four and the left-hander picks two runs off the last ball.

Bishnoi gives away nine in his final over, to finish with excellent figure of 2/18 in his four overs.

20:12

Hardik strikes again; New Zealand lose way

NZ 112-5 (15 ovs) vs India | SCORECARD

Hardik is turning out to be the star man for India today. He strikes with the key wicket of Mitchell, who goes aerial over the off-side but holes out the slower ball straight to Ishan Kishan at sweeper cover to fall for 14.

Hardik ends the over with two successive dot balls to Mitchell Santner.

Just five runs and a wicket in the 15th over, leaves New Zealand in trouble on 112/5.

Hardik has been excellent with figures of 2/23 in three overs.

20:08

Chapman out for 32; New Zealand 4 down

NZ 107-4 (14 ovs) vs India | SCORECARD

Pacer Rana back into the attack. Daryl Mitchell of the mark in smashing fashion as he pulls the slower bouncer from Rana over square leg for a six.

He guides the fourth ball past point for two runs followed by singles off the last two balls.

Kuldeep, who went for 22 in two overs, comes back. Mitchell and Phillips went after Kuldeep in the ODI series and it will be interesting to see whether he can get revenge.

Phillips sweeps the first ball powerfully through square leg for a four. He clips the next ball with soft hands in the gap on the leg side and sprints across for two runs.

Three singles and a wide as Kuldeep goes for 10 runs in his third over, with New Zealand going past the 100-run mark, in the 14th over.

19:56

3rd T20 Updates: Chapman out for 32; New Zealand 4 down

NZ 86-4 (12 ovs) vs India | SCORECARD

Bumrah, who has three overs in hand, is back into the attack. Chapman clips the first ball for a single off his pads before Phillips tries to play the ramp shot but fails to connect.

He plays a stunning short arm jab, swatting Bumrah behind square on the leg side for a four and hits the next to long-on for one and Chapman picks a single off the last ball.

Bishnoi back for a new spell. A single to Phillips off the third ball raises the 50-run stand for the fourth wicket from 38 balls as New Zealand get back on track.

However, leggie Bishnoi cripples New Zealand's hopes with the wicket of the well-set Chapman.

The left-hander, who made 32 from 23 balls, gets the edge trying to cut the spinner with wicketkeeper Samson taking a sharp catch.

19:47

3rd T20 Updates: Phillips, Chapman revive New Zealand

NZ 75-3 (10 ovs) vs India | SCORECARD

Chapman breaks the shackles as he pulls Kuldeep for a six over midwicket -- the first boundary after 25 balls.

The left-hander comes down the track as he fails to get to the pitch but the inside edge saves him, with the ball going fine on the leg side for a four.

Chapman takes one to long-on before Phillips lofts Kuldeep powerfully down the ground for the second six of the over.

Chapman hits the last ball to long-on for a single to get 19 runs from the over.

Medium pacer Shivam Dube comes into the attack. Chapman swings hard but can't get the first ball away before he swats the next behind square on the leg side for a four.

A single each to the two batters before Chapman lofts the fifth ball over the off-side for a six and picks one off the last ball.

New Zealand recover to 75/3 in 10 overs at the halfway mark, having scored 32 runs from the last two overs, including three sixes and two fours.

Phillips has made 30 from 25 balls and Chapman is on 28 from 17 balls.

19:37

Jasprit Bumrah celebrates the wicket of Tim Seifert.

NZ 43-3 (8 ovs) vs India | SCORECARD

Kuldeep Yadav comes into the attack as India keep rotating their bowlers around.

New Zealand not helping their cause by dropping the in-form Daryl Mitchell as low as No 6.

Two more singles from the rest of the over as Kuldeep makes a tidy start, giving away three runs in his first over.

Spin from both ends as Bishnoi comes back. He keeps the New Zealand batters tied up, giving away just four singles in his second over.

New Zealand's run rate is below the six mark, as they struggle on 43/3 in eight overs.

19:30

3rd T20 Updates: Bumrah strikes; New Zealand 3 down

NZ 36-3 (6 ovs) vs India | SCORECARD

A late introduction for Bumrah as he comes into the attack, to bowl the sixth over.

He strikes with his first ball, dismissing Seifert with a beauty to bowl him for 12.

Bumrah got the ball to move away slightly as right-hander Seifert played down the wrong line and was bowled.

New Zealand in trouble on 34/3 in the sixth over.

Mark Chapman gets off the mark with a single before Phillips plays three dots in a row and inside edges the last ball for one.

New Zealand have managed just three runs from the last two overs, to be struggling on 36/3 in six overs.

19:27

Hardik, Rana strike early; NZ in trouble

NZ 34-2 (5 ovs) vs India | SCORECARD

Rana continues as Phillips smashes the second ball past a diving Abhishek Sharma at point for a four. Two balls, he gets the under-edge as the ball bounces over the wicketkeeper for another boundary.

Phillips pushes away from his body and is beaten before he gets the thick leading edge trying to pull.

Hardik to bowl his second over in the Powerplay. He does well to concede just three singles from the first five balls before Phillips ends the over on a high by drilling the last ball for a four through the covers.

Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi into the attack in the Powerplay. He makes an excellent start, conceding just a single in his first over. He started with three dots in a row to Seifert, who took a single off the fourth before Bishnoi bowled two dots to Phillips.

Bishnoi kept firing it in full and flat, not giving the two big-hitters anything to get under.

19:14

3rd T20: Hardik, Rana strike early; New Zealand in trouble

Hardik Pandya takes the catch to dismiss Devon Conway off the bowling of Harshit Rana.

NZ 17-2 (2 ovs) vs India | SCORECARD

Hardik Pandya with the new ball at the other end ahead of Bumrah. The first ball is full and on the pads as Seifert flicks it in the gap past mid-on for a four.

He clips the next ball square but Kuldeep comes up with a superb stop at deep square leg to keep it down to three runs.

Hardik also strikes in his first over as Ravindra pulls the short ball straight to Ravi Bishnoi at deep square leg to be dismissed for four.

Just one fielder in the deep on the leg side and Ravindra only manages to pull the short ball straight to him as Bishnoi holds on to a sharp low catch.

The in-form Glenn Phillips gets off the mark with a cracking boundary through the covers off the first ball he faces and defends the last ball of the over.

19:08

Rana strikes; New Zealand lose early wicket

NZ 6-1 (1 ov) vs India | SCORECARD

Tim Seifert and Devon Conway are the two openers for New Zealand, while Harshit Rana opens the bowling for India.

Conway taps the first ball on the off-side for a single to get the Kiwis off the mark. Seifert calmly drives the next ball to long-on for an easy run.

Rana strikes with the early wicket of Conway, who uses his feet and tries to loft the pacer over the top but Hardik Pandya comes up with a stunning catch at mid-off to send back the opener.

Conway (2) couldn't get enough power on the shot, miscuing the ball towards mid-off as an alert Hardik rushes back and flung himself full length to his left to complete the catch.

Rachin Ravindra gets off the mark with a nicely-timed boundary through the covers off the first ball he faces before Rana produces a beauty to beat him off the outside edge next ball.

18:44

India elect to bowl vs NZ; Bumrah back

Suryakumar Yadav and Mitchell Santner at the toss.

New Zealand face a must-win game after losing the first two games of the five-match series.

India will look towards their spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Bishnoi delivering the goods in the middle overs, with Bumrah back to bolster the pace attack.

With Suryakumar Yadav back in form and the likes of Ishan Kishan and Abhishek Sharma looking ominous with the bat, no target is beyond them.

Check out the playing XIs:

India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (w/k), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah.

New Zealand: Devon Conway, Tim Seifert (w/k), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (Captain), Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy.

18:34

3rd T20: India elect to bowl vs NZ; Bumrah back

India captain Suryakumar Yadav has won the toss and elected to bowl against New Zealand in the third T20 International in Guwahati.

India, who lead the five-match series 2-0, have made two changes. Jasprit Bumrah is back in the playing XI as he replaces Arshdeep Singh with India manage the players' workload ahead of the T20 World Cup.

Varun Chakravarthy also gets a well deserved rest as Ravi Bishnoi finally gets a game.

18:06

India vs NZ 3rd T20: Pressure on Samson as India aim to seal series

Sanju Samson

Welcome to the coverage of the third T20 International between India and New Zealand at Barsapara Cricket Stadium, Guwahati, on Sunday.

Ishan Kishan's sensational comeback will reignite debate over who should be Abhishek Sharma's preferred opening partner with Sanju Samson's increasing struggles as India look to seal the five-match T20 series in the third game.

With just two weeks and three matches against New Zealand in the ongoing series left before the start of their T20 World Cup title defence, India's combination looks largely settled.

The batting and bowling units appear sorted and only a few spots remain under scrutiny and one such slot currently belongs to Samson.

Kishan's superb 76 off 32 balls, however, intensified the spotlight on Samson.

Reinstated as opener alongside Abhishek Sharma at the expense of Test and ODI skipper Shubman Gill, Samson has been failing to make the most of his chances, having scored a total of 55 runs in the last four T20Is.

Back in his preferred slot as opener, the Kerala man has not delivered, and time is running out with hardly any turnaround time before the T20 World Cup as the series would be a make-or-break for him.

His vulnerability against express pace has once again resurfaced.

During the England series last year, he fell cheaply five times to fast bowlers, including three dismissals in a row to Jofra Archer.

Against New Zealand, he managed only 10 and 6, dismissed by Kyle Jamieson and Matt Henry respectively.

Samson also looked untidy behind the stumps, failing to collect a wide yorker from Arshdeep Singh that ran away for four byes as New Zealand crossed the 200-run mark.

There were concerns over skipper Suryakumar Yadav's prolonged lean patch, but he silenced his critics in style, ending a run of 23 T20I innings without a fifty with a blazing 82 off 37 balls.

The seven-wicket win in the second T20, which gave India a 2-0 lead, was even more impressive as it came without much contribution from in-form Abhishek Sharma, the explosive inform world No. 1 T20I batter, who fell for a golden duck.

Abhishek, SKY destroy New Zealand; India seal series 3-0

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