India vs New Zealand 5th T20I: Seifert’s 93 Powers NZ to 7-Wicket Win
New Zealand beat India by seven wickets at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday, chasing 192 in 18 overs to finish the tour with a second straight victory. India still won the five-match series 3-2, having taken the first three.
Adam Milne was named Player of the Match for figures of 4 for 19, and Tim Seifert made 93 from 50 balls in the chase. Glenn Phillips, unbeaten on 65, was named Player of the Series after finishing with 341 runs — the most any batter has made in a bilateral T20I series.
India vs New Zealand 5th T20I – Match Summary
| Match | New Zealand vs India, 5th T20I |
|---|---|
| Date | 1 November 2026 |
| Venue | Seddon Park, Hamilton |
| Toss | New Zealand won and chose to field |
| India | 191/8 in 20 overs |
| New Zealand | 195/3 in 18 overs |
| Result | New Zealand won by seven wickets, with 12 balls to spare |
| Player of the Match | Adam Milne |
| Player of the Series | Glenn Phillips |
| Series result | India won 3-2 |
New Zealand ended the series the way they began it badly — by winning both of the last two matches after losing the first three. India keep the series; New Zealand keep the momentum.
Adam Milne’s Four-Wicket Spell Restricts India
Mitchell Santner put India in, and Milne made the decision look obvious inside two overs. Sanju Samson went for 4 and Abhishek Sharma for 1, both bowled, and India were 2 for 2.
Milne came back later and took two more — Nitish Kumar Reddy and Bhuvneshwar Kumar — to finish with 4 for 19 from his four overs, an economy rate of 4.75 in an innings that produced 191. No other bowler on either side went at under seven.
He was supported properly. Nathan Smith took 2 for 28, including Tilak Varma for 6, and Blair Tickner 2 for 38. Santner’s own four overs went for 39 without a wicket. India were 19 for 2 after the powerplay, which on a ground this size is a long way behind.
Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer Rebuild India’s Innings
What followed was the best batting India produced all evening. Ishan Kishan made 61 from 32 balls with five fours and five sixes, and Shreyas Iyer 50 from 23 with three fours and four sixes. Their third-wicket stand was worth 93, and it took India from 19 for 2 to 111 for 2 at the halfway mark.
Iyer’s was the more violent of the two innings — fifty from 23 balls, with more than two-thirds of his runs in boundaries — but Kishan’s was the one that made it possible. He absorbed the overs immediately after Milne’s opening burst, when another wicket would have ended the innings as a contest.
Then it unravelled. Kishan fell, Iyer followed soon after, and Tilak Varma went for 6 to leave India 133 for 5 in the fourteenth over. From a position where 210 looked available, India managed 58 from the last six.
Naman Dhir’s 33 from 23 and Nitish Kumar Reddy’s 22 from 17 produced a sixth-wicket stand of 46, which steadied things without ever restarting the acceleration. India finished on 191 for 8 — a competitive total on most grounds, and perhaps twenty short on this one.
Tim Seifert Produces a Match-Defining Innings
New Zealand lost Finn Allen for 2 with nine on the board, caught by Kishan off Arshdeep Singh. Nothing else went right for India after that.
Seifert made 93 from 50 balls with eleven fours and five sixes, and the shape of it mattered as much as the size. He was reportedly dropped on 13, early enough that the miss cost India the match rather than merely some runs.
He added 73 for the second wicket with Daryl Mitchell, who made 29 from 16 before Varun Chakravarthy had him caught by Abhishek Sharma at 82 for 2. Then came the stand that ended it: 86 for the third wicket with Glenn Phillips, taking New Zealand to 168 for 3 in the sixteenth over before Nitish Kumar Reddy finally removed Seifert.
Eleven fours in a fifty-ball innings is the detail worth sitting with. Seifert did not slog; he found the boundary almost every other over, which meant India never got a quiet period in which to build pressure.
Glenn Phillips Finishes the Chase Unbeaten
Phillips came in with the chase well set and made certain of it, finishing unbeaten on 65 from 38 balls with eight fours and three sixes.
He was explicit afterwards about where he thought the game turned. “When Varun came back, it was a make-or-break over, so wanted to take that risk,” he said at the presentation — a reference to taking on India’s leading spinner rather than seeing him off.
With Bevon Jacobs alongside him at the close, New Zealand reached 195 for 3 in 18 overs, winning by seven wickets with two overs unused. India’s three wicket-takers — Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy and Nitish Kumar Reddy — took one apiece, and nobody managed a spell that slowed the scoring.
Glenn Phillips Wins Player of the Series
Phillips finished the series with 341 runs, which is the highest aggregate by any batter in a bilateral T20I series. He passed Phil Salt’s 331 for England against West Indies in 2023; Mohammad Rizwan’s 316 for Pakistan against England in 2022 is third on that list.
It is worth being precise about what the record is. It covers bilateral series — two teams, home and away — not multi-team tournaments, and that is the comparison in which 341 stands first.
He was also reported to have finished 2026 with 522 T20I runs against India, the most by any batter against a single opponent in a calendar year in the format, with Abhishek Sharma’s 431 against New Zealand second on the same list.
Asked about his approach, Phillips kept it simple: “Try to be more of a hunter and less of prey.”
India vs New Zealand 5th T20I – Key Statistics
| Player | Team | Performance |
|---|---|---|
| Tim Seifert | New Zealand | 93 off 50 balls (11 fours, 5 sixes) |
| Glenn Phillips | New Zealand | 65 not out off 38 balls (8 fours, 3 sixes) |
| Adam Milne | New Zealand | 4/19 in four overs |
| Ishan Kishan | India | 61 off 32 balls (5 fours, 5 sixes) |
| Shreyas Iyer | India | 50 off 23 balls (3 fours, 4 sixes) |
| Naman Dhir | India | 33 off 23 balls |
| Daryl Mitchell | New Zealand | 29 off 16 balls |
| Nathan Smith | New Zealand | 2/28 |
| Blair Tickner | New Zealand | 2/38 |
Why New Zealand Won the Fifth T20I
No single moment decided it, but four did most of the work.
- Milne’s opening burst. Two wickets in the first two overs meant India batted the entire innings from behind.
- India’s lost momentum after the 93-run stand. From 133 for 5 in the fourteenth over, India added 58 from the last six. That is the margin.
- Seifert’s eleven fours. Boundaries at that frequency, from the third over onwards, denied India any period of control.
- The two big partnerships in the chase — 73 and 86 — which meant New Zealand never lost two wickets close together.
India’s fielding also cost them. The reported drop when Seifert had 13 was the sort of chance that, against a batter in this kind of form, is effectively the match.
India Win the T20I Series 3–2
The scoreline needs keeping straight: New Zealand won this match, and India won the series. India took the first three — including a six-wicket win in Wellington in which Abhishek Sharma made 113 from 38 balls — before New Zealand won at Eden Park and again here.
India will take the series and a short list of corrections: a top order that was 2 for 2 here and has been exposed by the new ball twice in a week, and the fielding.
New Zealand end a series they lost with the leading run-scorer, the last two results, and a bowler in Milne who found something at exactly the right time. The two sides now play five one-day internationals, beginning on Wednesday 4 November.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who won the India vs New Zealand 5th T20I in 2026?
New Zealand won by seven wickets at Seddon Park, Hamilton, on 1 November 2026, chasing their target with 12 balls to spare.
What was India’s score in the fifth T20I?
India made 191 for 8 in their 20 overs, after being reduced to 2 for 2 inside the first two.
What was New Zealand’s score?
New Zealand reached 195 for 3 in 18 overs to complete the chase.
Who was Player of the Match?
Adam Milne, for 4 for 19 from four overs — the only spell by any bowler in the match to go at under seven an over.
How many runs did Tim Seifert score?
Tim Seifert made 93 from 50 balls with eleven fours and five sixes, falling at 168 for 3 in the sixteenth over.
How many runs did Glenn Phillips score in the fifth T20I?
Glenn Phillips finished unbeaten on 65 from 38 balls, with eight fours and three sixes.
Who was Player of the Series?
Glenn Phillips, after scoring 341 runs across the five matches — the highest aggregate by any batter in a bilateral T20I series.
Who won the India vs New Zealand T20I series in 2026?
India won it 3-2. They took the first three matches; New Zealand won the last two.
How many runs did Ishan Kishan score in the fifth T20I?
Ishan Kishan made 61 from 32 balls with five fours and five sixes, adding 93 for the third wicket with Shreyas Iyer.
How many wickets did Adam Milne take?
Four, for 19 runs in four overs. Two came in his opening spell and two later in the innings.
