India captain Suryakumar Yadav continued his fiery form ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup by registering his third half-century of the series against New Zealand. He played a superb knock of 63 runs from just 30 deliveries in the fifth and final T20I of the series. The knock included four boundaries, six maximums and saw him finish the assignment on a high with 242 runs from five matches.
Suryakumar bags stunning feat
The half-century in the fifth T20I also saw Suryakumar achieve a huge milestone. He became the fastest player to score 3000 runs in the shortest format, breaking UAE batter Muhammad Waseem's record. The 35-year-old also became just the third Indian player after Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to reach 3000 T20I runs.
Fastest to 3000 runs in T20Is (balls faced) -
1. Suryakumar Yadav (India) - 1822 balls
2. Muhammad Waseem (UAE) - 1947 balls
3. Jos Buttler (England) - 2068 balls
4. Aaron Finch (Australia) - 2077 balls
5. David Warner (Australia) - 2113 balls
India's dominant performance in 5th T20I
Suryakumar took the crease after India had lost both Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma in the first five overs of their innings. He formed a humongous 137-run partnership alongside Ishan Kishan to help the hosts post their third-highest T20I total on the board. While Kishan scored his maiden hundred in the format, Suryakumar also contributed immensely with his half-century. Thanks to this,the Men in Blue finished off their 20 overs on 271/5.
In reply, even though the Kiwi batters tried their level best to chase down the total, they eventually succumbed to the pressure and got bundled out for 225 runs. Finn Allen was their top run-getter with his knock of 80 while the likes of Rachin Ravindra (30), Daryl Mitchell (26) and Ish Sodhi (33) also played decent cameos. They lost the match by 46 runs as India took home the series by 4-1, continuing their red-hot form in the format. Their next fixture will be against USA in the T20 World Cup on February 7.