India beat New Zealand to win series

The Indian cricket team blew away New Zealand with a dominant eight-wicket win in the third match to seal the IND vs NZ T20 2026 series at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati on Sunday.

Abhishek Sharma (68 not out off 28) and Suryakumar Yadav (57 not out off 26) starred with the bat for India, while Jasprit Bumrah was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with figures of 3/17 in his four overs.

Chasing 154 to win, India were stung with the very first ball of the innings after Matt Henry bowled Sanju Samson for a golden duck.

Samson’s removal had little to no impact on India’s chase as new man Ishan Kishan came out all guns blazing, smashing a quickfire 28 off 13 balls before falling in the fourth over.

Despite two wickets in the opening four overs, New Zealand couldn’t halt India’s momentum with Abhishek Sharma at his belligerent best.

The hard-hitting left-hander mostly dealt in boundaries and brought up his fifty off 14 balls - the second-fastest by an Indian only behind his mentor Yuvraj Singh.

Abhishek’s power hitting propelled India to 94/2 at the end of the first six overs, which is their second highest powerplay score in T20Is.

Abhishek Sharma was joined by Indian T20 captain Suryakumar Yadav, who also got in on the action by scoring an unbeaten 56 off 27 balls to help India seal the win in just 10 overs.

Earlier after losing the toss and being put into bat first, New Zealand were pushed on the backfoot from the start following the departures of Devon Conway and Rachin Ravindra inside the first couple of overs.

Tim Seifert and Glenn Phillips looked to counter attack and managed to get a few boundaries away. However, Tim Seifert perished in the last over of the powerplay after Jasprit Bumrah managed to sneak one past his defence and rattled the stumps.

Glenn Phillips and new man Mark Chapman then added a crucial 52-run partnership off 41 balls for the fourth wicket to steady the innings.

However, leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi swung the momentum back India’s way by dismissing Chapman at the end of the 12th over with New Zealand on 86/4.

Daryl Mitchell joined the well-set Phillips at the crease, but their resistance was short-lived as both batters fell in quick succession, leaving New Zealand reeling at 112/6 in the 16th over.

Mitchell Santner provided late impetus with a brisk 27 off 17 balls, but Jasprit Bumrah removed the New Zealand captain in the final over to help restrict the Kiwis to 153/9.

The fourth game of the series will be played at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. The five-match series is India’s last assignment before the T20 World Cup 2026 begins on February 7.

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