Abhishek Sharma Century Powers India to Series Win
Abhishek Sharma delivered a masterclass in aggressive batting, leading India to a dominant six-wicket victory over New Zealand in the third T20I. The win officially sealed the series for the visitors with two matches left to play. After India’s captain Shreyas Iyer won his third consecutive toss and chose to bowl, New Zealand posted a competitive total of 198/3 in their 20 overs, anchored by Daryl Mitchell’s career-best unbeaten 89 off 52 balls and Finn Allen’s 40. Abhishek Sharma has made a habit of mocking T20 numbers. One over in, India had 26. And both kept carving it away, new Zealand kept offering width to the two left-handers. The series’ most miserly bowler, curiously did not bring himself on until the ninth over, mitchell Santner. A late flurry of wickets delayed the finish but never made it doubtful. Brief scores: New Zealand 198/3 in 20 overs (Daryl Mitchell 89*, Finn Allen 40; Arshdeep Singh 1-33) lost to India 199/4 in 13.2 overs (Abhishek Sharma 113, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 45) by six wickets.
India’s response was immediate and historic.
Abhishek and teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who replaced Sanju Samson, dismantled the New Zealand attack during a 133-run opening partnership that lasted just 7.1 overs. The duo set a new benchmark for Full Member teams, scoring a record-breaking 118 runs in the Powerplay alone. Abhishek reached his fourth T20I hundred in just 35 balls—narrowly missing his own record of a 30-ball century—and finished with 113 runs off 38 deliveries, including 11 sixes and a strike rate of 297.37. While Yuvraj Singh’s record for the fastest 50 (12 balls) remained intact, Abhishek reached his own fifty in 15 deliveries. A 113 off 38 balls, and shared a 133-run opening stand with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (45 off 19) that took just 7.1 overs, he scored his fourth T20I hundred. Marking it with a clenched fist and a roar before sitting down in a meditative pose, abhishek flirted with his own 30-ball 100 record before reaching three figures off 35. But another one did not, yuvraj Singh’s 12-ball 50 record also stayed intact as he pointed out on X (Abhishek took 15). And it reduced the chase to a formality, india’s 118 in the first six overs became the highest Powerplay score in a contest between Full Member teams. The night felt less like a continuation of a tight series than a rerun of the one-sided contest at home earlier in the year. Nothing that followed slowed them down. Bhuvneshwar was hit for two sixes in his second over, Arshdeep went for 15 in the sixth, and the hosts finished the Powerplay on 58.
The run chase unfolded at a relentless pace. After Sooryavanshi drove Jacob Duffy for four and slapped a six, Abhishek continued the onslaught, notably hitting the first ball he faced for a six—marking the eighth time he has achieved that feat in his T20I career. New Zealand’s bowlers struggled to contain the pair; Adam Milne conceded 17 in the second over, Michael Bracewell was taken for 21, and Kyle Jamieson gave up 20 runs in an expensive fourth over. By the time the opening stand ended, India had already posted 156 runs, requiring only 66 more from 77 balls to win. When the partnership finally broke, India needed 66 off 77 balls. Michael Bracewell’s offspin found no grip and went for 21.
The hosts’ effort to defend their total was hampered by the venue’s dimensions, where square boundaries measured only 56 and 62 metres. India’s bowling unit, led by Arshdeep Singh (1-33), successfully adjusted by focusing on yorker-length deliveries after Nitish Reddy removed Finn Allen to stifle the run rate. Despite Daryl Mitchell’s tactical brilliance—using ramps and positioning to disrupt the bowlers’ plans—New Zealand could not prevent India from reaching the target of 199 in just 13.2 overs, securing a series-clinching result with 40 balls to spare. They got there with 40 to spare. And Seifert top-edged a cross-batted heave, arshdeep removed Tim Seifert almost exactly as he had in Christchurch: the ball angled across the right-hander. The bowlers had to force batters to hit towards the longer straight boundaries, with square boundaries of just 56 and 62 metres. Nitish Reddy brought the innings back under control.
