Home
After three consecutive defeats, New Zealand wreaked havoc in the fourth T20I of the series against India at Eden Park, Auckland. Glenn Phillips' third T20I ton helped New Zealand register the highest score against India in the history of T20I cricket. New Zealand posted 259/7, breaking England's record of 257/3 achieved earlier this year in Southampton. It is also New Zealand’s highest T20I score, bettering their 254/5 against Scotland in 2022.
ADVERTISEMENT
The 'John Cena' song - 'The time is now'echoed at Eden Park as he became New Zealand's first batter to score a T20I century against India at home. He reached the feat with a six against Arshdeep Singh in the penultimate over. He took 46 balls to reach three figures, joint second-fastest by a New Zealand batter. He equalled his six-year-old feat achieved against New Zealand.
Phillips became only the third batter to score three T20I centuries at no.4 or lower, joining former India skipper Suryakumar Yadav (3) and Australia's Glenn Maxwell.
ALSO READ: Krunal Pandya-led India face defeat against Pakistan in Hong Kong Sixes 2026 opener
Phillips breaks Suryakumar’s record
Phillips broke the record for most runs in India-New Zealand T20I clashes, which belonged to Suryakumar. Phillips now has 592 runs from 19 innings against India at an average of 32.88 and a strike rate of 155.38. He has four T20I fifties against India. Phillips' teammate, Daryl Mitchell surpassed Suryakumar has well. Daryl has 530 runs from 24 innings at an average of 26.50 and a strike rate of 154.31, featuring two fifties.
Suryakumar has a stellar T20I record against New Zealand with 526 runs from just 14 innings, averaging 52.60 and a strike rate of 170.22, including a ton and four fifties.
Phillips equals Pooran
Overall, Phillips is third on the list of batters with the most T20I runs against India. He shares the third spot with former West Indies wicketkeeper-batter Nicholas Pooran. The first spot is occupied by England's wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler (844 runs from 29 innings) and South Africa's David Miller (626 runs from 26 innings).
Phillips in elite list
Phillips is the 2nd New Zealand batter to score a T20I ton against India. Nine years ago, former opener Colin Munro scored an unbeaten 109. Phillips is the 12th batter to cross the 100-run mark against India in the format. In the ongoing calendar year, he is fourth to achieve the feat after West Indies captain Shai Hope and England’s Jacob Bethell and Buttler.
Phillips breaks Hope's record
Phillips has broken Hope's record for most runs in a T20I series against India. Hope had recently achieved the record with 261 runs in the five-match T20I series, where the decider was washed out due to rain. Phillips has scored 276 runs from four games already.
Phillips, Bracewell lead New Zealand to record-breaking total
In the fourth T20I, skipper Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl first. He dropped Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for fit-again Ishan Kishan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar for Mayank Yadav.
Mayank struck early, dismissing Tim Seifert. Daryl hit him for two sixes and a four, but the pacer had the last laugh with his wicket. Phillips walked out to bat in the third over and faced a 149 kmph delivery. Phillips hit his first boundary off Prince Yadav. His first six came off Arshdeep Singh's second over. He took on Prince, hitting him for a six and two fours, taking New Zealand to 67/2 in the powerplay overs.
On the other end, Finn Allen fell for a 17-ball 31 to Axar Patel. Phillips took New Zealand past 100 in the ninth over with a six off Reddy. Mayank returned to the attack and delivered Bevon Jacobs' wicket.
In the 13th over, Phillips reached his fifty from 31 balls. He followed it up with a six. Michael Bracewell unleashed carnage in the 14th over, hitting Axar for three fours and a six. Phillips had a reprieve when his switch-hit did not work. The ball was in the air, but Dhir misjudged it, and India missed a chance to dismiss Phillips for 57.
The unreal acceleration came in the 16th over. Phillips smashed Reddy for a four off no-ball and four consecutive sixes, making it a 32-run over. In the next over, Bracewell hit Mayank for a six to complete his fifty from just 19 balls, the joint second-fastest against India in T20Is. He hit three sixes in Mayank's last over.
Prince came back into the attack and broke the partnership with Bracewell's wicket. He scored 65 runs from 25 balls, including four fours and six sixes. Phillips and Bracewell shared a 115-run stand for the sixth wicket from just 40 balls.
In the 19th over, Phillips completed his fifty. Arshdeep Singh finished the over with the wicket of skipper Mitchell Santner. In the final over, Phillips smashed a six before losing his wicket to Reddy. His knock of 107 runs from 49 balls included six fours and 10 sixes. This is the second-most number of sixes by a batter in a T20I innings.
Nathan Smith finished the innings with a boundary, taking New Zealand's score to 259/7.
Bracewell hailed Phillips as an entertainer after New Zealand set a 260-run target for the hosts.
“Oh, it's amazing, yeah. He's a real character and entertainer and when he's batting like that, it's a privilege to watch from the other end. I think we bounced off each other really nicely tonight and we were able to put the bowlers under a bit of pressure,” he told the broadcasters during the innings break.
Arshdeep’s massive feat
Arshdeep was the most economical bowler with 38 runs from four overs. His only wicket helped him script history. The left-arm pacer completed 150 T20I wickets, becoming the fastest pacer to the feat in terms of balls bowled. He got to the 150 T20I wickets mark with 2,143 balls, surpassing Bangladesh's Mustafizur Rahman (2,532 balls). Overall, he is the third-quickest to 150 T20I wickets after Sri Lanka's Wanindu Hasaranga (2,035 balls) and Afghanistan's Rashid Khan (2,098 balls).
Arshdeep also broke Ireland left-arm pacer Josh Little's record for most T20I wickets in a calendar year (full-member sides). He has taken 40 wickets from 31 T20Is, averaging 25.32 including a fifer.
ADVERTISEMENT
