In the third T20 match played on Sunday at the Barsapara Stadium in Guwahati, Team India registered a massive win against New Zealand. Chasing a target of 154 runs, India finished the match in just 10 overs, losing only two wickets. Young opener Abhishek Sharma played a key role in this stunning chase, helping India take a 3-0 lead in the five-match T20 series.
Batting first, New Zealand struggled against the disciplined Indian bowling attack and could score only 153 runs in their allotted 20 overs. The Kiwi batters found it difficult to build partnerships and remained under pressure for most of the innings. In reply, India started aggressively and never allowed New Zealand to come back into the game. The openers completely dominated the bowling from the very beginning.
Abhishek Sharma was the standout performer of the match. He smashed a half-century in just 14 balls, which is the second-fastest fifty by an Indian batter in T20 internationals. With this innings, Abhishek went past established match-winners like Hardik Pandya, KL Rahul and Suryakumar Yadav in terms of speed. The record for the fastest T20I fifty by an Indian still belongs to Yuvraj Singh, who achieved it in 12 balls during the 2007 T20 World Cup against England.
India also created history in the powerplay. The team scored 94 runs for the loss of two wickets in the first six overs, registering the second-highest powerplay score in T20I history. This is also the highest powerplay score ever made against New Zealand, breaking Australia’s earlier record of 91/0 set in 2018.
Another remarkable achievement came when India reached the team fifty in just 3.1 overs. This is now India’s fastest team fifty in T20 internationals, surpassing their previous record of 3.4 overs against Bangladesh in 2023. The opening batters completely took control of the match within the first three overs itself.
With this victory, India sealed their ninth consecutive T20I series win. Since December 2023, India have not lost a single bilateral T20 series. This was also India’s fifth straight T20 series win against New Zealand. Notably, New Zealand have never won a T20I series on Indian soil.
