Ishan Kishan’s maiden century, Arshdeep Singh’s fifer power India to 46-run win over New Zealand in 5th T20I

Ishan Kishan’s exciting first T20I century and Arshdeep Singh’s five-wicket haul led India to a dominant 46-run victory over New Zealand on Saturday. This win secured a 4-1 series victory for the hosts, providing a perfect boost as they prepare to defend their World Cup title. After India posted a huge total of 271 for five, the result was never really in doubt.

How did India bat?

Ishan Kishan was the star of the show, smashing 103 runs off only 43 balls. After the early exits of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, Kishan teamed up with captain Suryakumar Yadav for a massive 137-run partnership. Suryakumar also hit a quick 63 and reached the milestone of 3,000 career T20I runs. Ishan Kishan’s power-hitting was incredible. He reached his second fifty in just 14 balls, hitting boundaries all over the field before Hardik Pandya added a late 42 to push the score past 250.

How was New Zealand’s chase?

New Zealand put up a fight, eventually finishing with 225 runs. Finn Allen was their standout performer, scoring 80 runs off 38 balls. He was particularly aggressive against Arshdeep Singh early on, hitting several boundaries in the opening overs. However, once the spinners, Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy, took control during the middle overs, the Kiwis lost momentum and wickets began to fall regularly.

Arshdeep Singh takes fifer

Despite a difficult start where he gave up 40 runs in his first two overs, Arshdeep Singh turned his game around. He showed great composure to take four wickets in his final three overs while giving away very little. He ended the match with impressive figures of 5/51, cleaning up the New Zealand lower order to seal the win.

Sanju Samson is in a tough spot

While the team celebrated, Sanju Samson faced more disappointment. He was out for just 6 runs, marking his fifth failure in a row during this series. With the World Cup starting in just a week, his spot in the team is now in question, especially since Kishan also took over the wicketkeeping duties during the second half of the match.