New Zealand beat India by 87 runs in the fourth T20I at Eden Park on Friday, as Glenn Phillips’ 49-ball 107 carried them to 259 for 7 and Jacob Duffy took two wickets in the first over of the chase, PTI reported. India were held to 172 for 9.
India had already won the series, and still lead it 3-1. But 259 is the highest total any team has made against them in a T20I, and the margin is New Zealand’s biggest over India in the format. That is a heavy result to carry into Sunday’s finale in Hamilton and the ODI series that follows.
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Key points
- New Zealand made 259/7, their highest T20I total and the highest any side has made against India
- Glenn Phillips hit 107 off 49 balls with ten sixes; Jacob Duffy took 4/23
- India still lead the five-match series 3-1 with the last game in Hamilton on Sunday
Phillips and Bracewell take 115 off 41 balls
Shreyas Iyer won the toss and bowled. For a while it looked a fair call: Mayank Yadav, bowling in the mid-140s kph according to PTI, removed Tim Seifert and Daryl Mitchell and finished with 3 for 48, India’s best figures on the night.
Then Phillips and Michael Bracewell came together. They added 115 for the fifth wicket off 41 balls, and Bracewell’s 65 came off just 25. Phillips hit ten sixes and six fours on his way to his third T20I hundred, reaching three figures with a straight six off Arshdeep Singh.
“We took most of the risks and it was fantastic,” Phillips said after collecting the player-of-the-match award, as reported by Outlook India.
The total beats New Zealand’s previous best of 254 for 5 against Scotland in Edinburgh in 2022, and England’s 257 for 3 at Southampton earlier this year as the most conceded by India, according to CricTracker.
Duffy’s first over settles the chase
Needing 260, India were behind almost at once. Duffy had Sanju Samson caught by Seifert for 4 and Ishan Kishan out for a duck in the opening over, and later took Naman Dhir and Arshdeep with consecutive balls to finish with 4 for 23.
Dhir’s 28 off 13 and Abhishek Sharma’s 27 off 15 kept the rate close for a few overs, but nobody went past Tilak Varma’s 35. “We fell short with the ball. They got the momentum in the batting powerplay,” Iyer said.
What the rotated XI tells us about Hamilton
With the series won, India changed things. Kishan came back in place of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, and Mayank replaced Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The bowling without Bhuvneshwar leaked 259, which makes the attack India pick on Sunday the main team-news question before the toss.
For anyone looking at player markets, that rotation matters more than the scoreline. A batter or bowler who sits out Sunday has no line to settle, and India have shown they are willing to rest regulars in a decided series. New Zealand, playing for pride, have far less reason to change a side that has just posted a national record.
What happens next
The fifth T20I is at Seddon Park, Hamilton, on Sunday 1 November, starting at 20:00 local time (12:30 IST). The five-match ODI series begins at Eden Park on 4 November, with Shubman Gill captaining India in the first three games. Our T20 cricket hub has the wider picture across the international game.
Market watch
- India’s XI is the first thing to check on Sunday: they have rotated openers and seamers since sealing the series.
- India conceded 85 in the last five overs at Eden Park, according to PTI, so death bowling is the weak spot to watch.
- Bhuvneshwar’s return or absence is the clearest signal of how seriously India treat the final T20I.
- Duffy’s two-wicket opening over against a reshuffled top order puts India’s first powerplay in focus.
For more, see the latest cricket predictions, our teams hub and upcoming fixtures in the match centre.
Top image: Photo: TimBray / CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons
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Pradeep Singh
Pradeep Singh is a cricket betting expert with 17+ years of experience. His work is in The Times of India, Hindustan Dainik, and Dainik Bhaskar, covering cricket betting and gambling news.
At cricket-betting.net, he is our in-house expert, writing betting guides, match analysis, and news about cricket betting markets.
