Auckland: Glenn Phillips produced one of the great T20I innings as New Zealand posted a record total and beat India by 87 runs in the fourth T20I at Eden Park on Friday, claiming their first win of the five-match series.
Sent in after Shreyas Iyer won his fourth consecutive toss of the series, New Zealand were wobbling at 112 for 4 when Phillips and Michael Bracewell came together. What followed was carnage: the pair added 115 runs for the fifth wicket off just 40 balls, and New Zealand plundered 85 runs in the final five overs to finish on 259 for 7 — their highest-ever T20I total, the highest T20I score at Eden Park, and the highest total any team has posted against India in the format, passing England’s 257 for 3 at Southampton earlier this year.
Phillips was magnificent. He reached his third T20I century off just 46 balls — the joint second-fastest hundred against India in the format — and finished with 107 off 49 balls, hitting six fours and ten sixes, including four consecutive sixes off Nitish Kumar Reddy in a 32-run 16th over. He became only the second New Zealand batter after Colin Munro to score a T20I century against India, and the standout batter of the series, having already made an unbeaten 82 and 70 in the first two games. Bracewell was just as brutal, smashing 65 off 25 balls with his fifty coming off 19 deliveries. Finn Allen contributed 31 off 17 and Daryl Mitchell 24 off nine at the top, while Mayank Yadav, back in the side, was India’s most successful bowler with 3 for 48.
There was a milestone for Arshdeep Singh amid the onslaught: his wicket in the closing overs made him the first Indian to reach 150 T20I wickets, and he finished as India’s most economical bowler with 1 for 38.
India’s chase of 260 never got going. Jacob Duffy, who finished with 4 for 23, struck early, and captain Mitchell Santner’s double strike in the ninth over left India out of the contest by the halfway stage at 106 for 6. Tilak Varma’s 35 was India’s top score, with Naman Dhir making 28 off 13 balls and Nitish Kumar Reddy 21 off 10, but the required rate had long since escaped them, and India closed on 172 for 9, with Prince Yadav unbeaten on 18.
The win gives New Zealand something to defend in the finale, but the series is already India’s: the visitors won the first three games, in Christchurch twice and Wellington, and lead 3-1. The fifth and final T20I will be played at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday, November 1, starting at 12:30 PM IST.
Brief scores: New Zealand 259/7 (Glenn Phillips 107, Michael Bracewell 65; Mayank Yadav 3-48) beat India 172/9 (Tilak Varma 35, Naman Dhir 28; Jacob Duffy 4-23) by 87 runs.
