Glenn Phillips made 107 off 49 balls, and New Zealand’s record 259 handed India their second-heaviest T20I defeat
New Zealand made their highest T20I total at Eden Park and beat India by 87 runs, though India still lead the series 3-1 with one game left in Hamilton.
Oct 30, 2026
India won the toss at Eden Park on Friday and asked New Zealand to bat. Twenty overs later they were looking at 259 for 7, the highest total New Zealand have made in a T20I, and India’s chase was in trouble before the first over was finished. India finished on 172 for 9, beaten by 87 runs.
Only the 125-run defeat to England at Trent Bridge in July has been heavier by runs in India’s T20I history. They still lead the five-match series 3-1 with one game to go.
Phillips takes 32 off one over
Glenn Phillips was not quick out of the blocks. He took 31 balls to reach fifty, and New Zealand were 112 for 4 in the 11th over when Bevon Jacobs fell to Mayank Yadav, the third of his three wickets.
Then Michael Bracewell walked in. He and Phillips put on 115 for the fifth wicket in a little over six overs. Phillips needed only 15 more balls to go from fifty to his hundred, and six of them went for six. He got there in 46 balls, his third T20I century, and was caught by Abhishek Sharma off Nitish Kumar Reddy for 107 off 49 with 10 sixes.
Bracewell’s 65 off 25 is his highest T20I score. The old New Zealand record was the 254 for 5 they made against Scotland in Edinburgh in 2022.
Mayank finished with 3 for 48, which is about as good as it got for India. Nitish went for 64 in his four overs and Axar Patel 43 in three. Iyer admitted afterwards that India “fell a bit short” with the ball early on and that New Zealand took control from the third over. He called Phillips’ innings exceptional and pointed out he had been consistent all series.
Two down for four
The chase needed a big start and got the opposite. Jacob Duffy had Sanju Samson caught behind off the second ball, and three balls later took a return catch from Ishan Kishan, who was back in the side and out for 0. India were 4 for 2.
Abhishek and Iyer hit back, and it was 50 for 2 in the fifth over. Then Abhishek was caught by Mitchell Santner off Matt Fisher for 27 off 15, Iyer was bowled by Adam Milne for 22, and India were 89 for 6 by the ninth over. Santner’s caught-and-bowled to remove Axar was his 151st T20I wicket.
Naman Dhir made 28 off 13 before Duffy came back and took two in two balls, Dhir and Arshdeep Singh. Tilak Varma batted almost to the end for 35 off 35, and Prince Yadav’s unbeaten 18 got India past 170. Duffy finished with 4 for 23, and Santner had 2 for 24.
Suryakumar’s record survives another game
There was a side plot in Auckland. Suryakumar Yadav’s 1,164 T20I runs in 2022 are the most by an Indian in a calendar year, and two of India’s openers came into this game close to it. Abhishek needed 40 and made 27, so he is now 12 short. Kishan needed six and made none, so he is still five short.
Hamilton is the next chance for either of them, if they play. India brought in Kishan and Mayank for this game and left out Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The fifth and final T20I is at Seddon Park on Sunday, 1 November, and the five-match ODI series starts on 4 November.