India Script Historic T20I Run Chase Against New Zealand as Samson, Iyer and Dhir Shine

Nearly a week after rounding off a high-scoring T20 series against the West Indies that ended in a 2-2 draw, India played another hit-a-thon match down under in New Zealand under entirely different conditions and emerged on top in their opening T20 match against the Kiwis with a four-wicket win.

Chasing a mammoth total of 226, India began their innings in a blistering fashion, thanks to the blitzkrieg inning by both the Indian openers - Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma. The opening duo came out attacking from the first ball and took India’s score to 93 for no loss at the end of the powerplay.

The Kiwi then fought back, with spinners Bracewell and Santner picking two wickets each in the middle overs as India looked to have lost the battle completely; they lost four wickets in a span of 22 balls, scoring only 29 runs.

But India’s batting depth came to the fore shining bright, with Captain Shreyas Iyer, and the spinning all-rounder duo of Axar Patel and Naman Dhir showing their batting prowess and taking India over the line with two balls to spare.

Allen and Phillips set the tone for a record total

Playing his first T20 game at home since March 2025, Kiwi opener Finn Allen lit up the Hagley Oval ground with fireworks; smashing a brilliant 45 off just 24 balls. His powerful shots down the ground were particularly impressive but soon Axar Patel got the better of him.

Against the aggressive hitting from all the New Zealand batters, Indian bowlers seemed almost clueless. Bevon Jacobs and Glen Phillips formed an incredible partnership of 73 off just 33 deliveries for the fourth wicket, which was powered by Jacobs’ big sixes. After Jacob’s departure, Phillps continued the onslaught on Indian attack, punishing all the blowers and taking New Zealand’s score to 225 for 4 in their allotted 20 overs.

Axar, Iyer, and Dhir Get India over the line

After a good opening stand and a mini collapse, India promoted Axar Patel at number six and he made an important contribution to the game, scoring 24 runs off 14 balls and he put on a crucial partnership with Captain Iyer. Both the batter benefitted from the rare dropped catches by the Kiwis.

After Axar departed, Iyer built a mini partnership with Naman Dhir of 43 runs before falling to a slow cutter from Adam Milne in the penultimate over. At this stage, India needed 16 of 11 balls and the match could have still gone either way.

New Zealand did their best to drag the match to the last over but India’s strong start and the dewy conditions on the ground proved to be New Zealand's downfall. Dhir continued the impressive start he got to his international career and finished the match with a hook for six when India needed two runs off three balls.