WELLINGTON: Abhishek Sharma smashed a blistering 38-ball 113 as India crushed New Zealand by six wickets in the third Twenty20 International on Tuesday to clinch the five-match series with two games to spare.
Chasing a target of 199, India raced to the target in just 13.2 overs, with Abhishek and 15-year-old opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi laying waste to the New Zealand bowling attack in a record-breaking opening stand.
Abhishek struck nine fours and 11 sixes in an innings that threatened to eclipse his own record of a 30-ball century against Afghanistan in Delhi last month, the fastest T20 international hundred by a batter from a full-member nation.
The left-hander reached his century off 35 deliveries, celebrating with the trademark meditation pose of footballer Erling Haaland before eventually falling to Kyle Jamieson, with Glenn Phillips taking the catch at deep midwicket.
Abhishek and Sooryavanshi put on 133 runs in just 7.1 overs, including a record 118 runs in the powerplay — surpassing the previous mark of 116 set by Romania against Serbia in 2021.
Sooryavanshi, promoted to open after batting at number three in the previous match, contributed 45 off 19 balls, hitting four fours and four sixes. His innings ended when he was caught at long-on attempting to slog recalled pacer Matthew Fisher.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner had earlier dropped Abhishek on 92 at extra cover, struggling to judge the ball in Wellington’s swirling wind.
India’s assault was evident from the opening over, with Jacob Duffy conceding 26 runs as the visitors seized control of the chase. India had reached 178-2 after 10 overs, leaving little doubt about the outcome.
“That was the plan for us. Just get the momentum for the team and keep going,” Abhishek said after being named player of the match.
India captain Shreyas Iyer praised the opening pair, saying he had never seen a team reach 100 in five overs at the international level.
New Zealand, having lost the toss and been asked to bat for the third successive match, posted 198-6, with Daryl Mitchell leading the scoring with an unbeaten 89 off 52 deliveries.
Mitchell struck five fours and five sixes, rebuilding the innings after Tim Seifert fell for two, top-edging Arshdeep Singh. He shared an 86-run partnership with Finn Allen, who made 40 off 25 balls, before combining with Bevon Jacobs, who remained unbeaten on 39 from 23 deliveries.
New Zealand’s bowlers, however, struggled to contain India’s explosive opening pair, with Santner acknowledging the difficulty of stopping batters in such form.
“Pretty tough to stop those guys when they’re going,” he said.
The fourth match will be played at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday.
SCOREBOARD
NEW ZEALAND:
T. Seifert c Patel b Singh2
F. Allen c Dhir b Reddy40
D. Mitchell not out89
G. Phillips c&b Patel17
B. Jacobs not out39
EXTRAS (LB-7, W-4)11
TOTAL (for three wickets, 20 overs)198
DID NOT BAT: M. Bracewell, M. Santner, K. Jamieson, J. Duffy, A. Milne, M. Fisher
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-4 (Seifert), 2-90 (Allen), 3-123 (Phillips)
BOWLING: Kumar 4-0-40-0 (2w), Singh 4-0-33-1 (2w), Yadav 4-0-44-0, Patel 4-0-36-1, Reddy 4-0-38-1
INDIA:
V. Sooryavanshi c Mitchell b Fisher45
A. Sharma c Phillips b Jamieson113
S. Samson b Jamieson18
S. Iyer c Phillips b Santner5
T. Varma not out1
N. Dhir not out4
EXTRAS (LB-1, NB-2, W-10)13
TOTAL (for four wickets, 13.2 overs)199
DID NOT BAT: A. Patel, N. K. Reddy, B. Kumar, A. Singh, P. Yadav
FALL OF WICKETS: 1-133 (Sooryavanshi), 2-178 (Sharma), 3-193 (Iyer), 4-195 (Samson)
BOWLING: Duffy 2-0-44-0 (1w, 1nb), Milne 2-0-33-0 (1w), Bracewell 2-0-36-0 (1w), Jamieson 3.2-0-45-2, Fisher 1-0-23-1 (2w, 1nb), Santner 3-0-17-1 (1w)
RESULT: India won by six wickets.
MAN-OF-THE-MATCH: Abhishek Sharma
Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2026
