Seifert and Phillips lead New Zealand past India in Hamilton

Tim Seifert and Glenn Phillips powered New Zealand to a 7-wicket win over India in the fifth and final T20I at Seddon Park, Hamilton, on Sunday, 1 November. Phillips finished the series with 341 runs, the most by any batter in a bilateral T20I series, passing Phil Salt’s 331 against West Indies in 2023 and Mohammad Rizwan’s 316 against England in 2022. He was named Player of the Series.

India still took the five-match New Zealand vs India T20I Series 2026 3-2. New Zealand reached 195/3 in 18 overs, chasing India’s 191/8, and Seifert was bowled by Nitish Kumar Reddy just short of a century.

The chase

Seifert had made very few runs in the first four games, NZ Herald reports, before he turned hero in the finale. The turning point came in the 13th over, when he and Phillips attacked Varun Chakravarthy, who was playing his first match of the series.

Phillips said at the presentation that he wanted to be the hunter rather than the prey and to take down the spin, and he called that over the make-or-break one.

India’s innings

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner chose to bowl first, and NZ Herald says that proved decisive, as three of the first four games were won by the side batting second in dewy conditions. Adam Milne took 4-19 in his four overs, including the early wickets of Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson, who made 1 and 4.

Ishan Kishan made 61 off 32 balls and captain Shreyas Iyer 50 off 23, both finding form again, while Naman Dhir added 33 and Nitish Kumar Reddy 22. Nathan Smith and Blair Tickner took two wickets each, and India’s total was still below par.

NZ Herald adds that India wasted both reviews on Daryl Mitchell early on, while New Zealand dropped two more catches, taking their total to 15 for the series.

What’s next

The two sides now move to the ODIs. The first is on Wednesday, 4 November at 7:30 AM IST, followed by the second on 7 November and the third on 10 November. Phillips said the win would give New Zealand confidence for the longer format.