India defeated New Zealand by 46 runs in the fifth and last T20I at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday.
With the win, India finished the five-match T20I series 4-1, having already clinched the series with an unassailable lead by the third match.
Ishan Kishan’s thrilling maiden T20I century compensated for Sanju Samson’s familiar failure, and along with Arshdeep Singh’s five-wicket haul, led India to their 46-run win.
fter India posted a massive 271 for five, thanks to Kishan’s (103 off 43 balls, 6×4, 10×6) and skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s (63 off 30 balls, 4×4, 6×6), the only question was the margin of victory.
New Zealand fought bravely in parts but were eventually all out for 225. For India, pacer Arshdeep rebounded from his early struggles to take a brilliant five-wicket haul (5/51).
Initially, Arshdeep conceded 40 runs in his first two overs but then took four wickets in his next three overs for just 11 runs.
Finn Allen (80 off 38 balls) played a powerful innings upfront, but the target was always beyond New Zealand’s reach.
Allen, the top-scorer in the recently concluded Big Bash League, brought that form to the Greenfield Stadium.
The right-hander attacked pacer Arshdeep, hitting two fours and a six in the opening over of New Zealand’s innings.
In the second over, Allen hammered the Indian pacer for 4, 4, 6, 4, 4, making 23 runs in total.
Allen, reaching his sixth T20I fifty in 22 balls, fell to the returning left-arm spinner Axar Patel (3/33), ending a second-wicket partnership of 100 runs with Rachin Ravindra (30 off 17 balls).
