1st T20i : Samson's 33 balls 67 & Naman Dhir's firing 15 balls 42* runs powered India to chase 225 runs and upset New Zealand by 4 wickets

1st twenty20i match of five t20i match series will be played between New Zealand vs India at Hagley Oval, Christchurch on Thursday, October 22, 2026.

Putting into bat first, New Zealand with wonderful batting performances set huge target of 225 runs for India to get. Glenn Phillips with 40 balls 82* runs and Finn Allen's 24 balls 45 runs were top scorers for New Zealand.

Following huge 225 runs, India got firing start with Abhishek and Samson initially. Both added 93 runs in 5.5 overs before Abhishek got out scoring 12 balls 29 runs. Sanju Samson played good quick inning of 33 balls 67 runs before left the field. Shreyas Iyer with 28 balls 42 runs and Naman Dhir's super quick 15 balls 42* runs powered India to a record chase of 225 runs in 19.4 overs. Samson declared man of the match. India led 5-match t20i series 1-0 as well.

Man of the match :- SV Samson (Ind)

New Zealand vs India 1st t20i scorecard Toss : India, elected to field first Result : India won by 4 wickets Man of The Match : Sanju Samson (Ind) Series Status - India led 5-match series 1-0   New Zealand 1st Inning     Batting   R B 4s 6s SR   Tim Seifert (w) c Samson b Yadav 24 17 3 1 141.17   Finn Allen c Tilak Varma b Patel 45 24 5 2 187.50   Daryl Mitchell c Kumar b Arshdeep Singh 28 19 2 1 147.36   Glenn Phillips not out 82 40 8 3 205.00   Bevon Jacobs run out (Arshdeep Singh) 31 16 0 3 193.75   Michael Bracewell not out 7 6 0 0 116.66   Mitchell Santner (c)               Nathan Smith               Matt Henry               Adam Milne               Lockie Ferguson                               Extras (nb 2, w 6) 8           Total (20.0 overs) 225/4 RR: 11.25   India       Bowling O M R W NB WB Eco   Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4 0 49 0 2 2 12.25   Arshdeep Singh 4 0 45 1 0 2 11.25   Mayank Yadav 4 0 40 1 0 1 10.00   Axar Patel 4 0 51 1 0 0 12.75   Nitish Kumar Reddy 4 0 40 0 0 1 10.00   India 2nd Inning     Batting   R B 4s 6s SR   Sanju Samson (w) b Santner 67 33 8 4 203.03   Abhishek Sharma c Milne b Bracewell 29 12 2 3 241.66   Tilak Varma c Ferguson b Bracewell 6 11 0 0 54.54   Shreyas Iyer (c) c Santner b Milne 42 28 1 2 150.00   Ishan Kishan c Allen b Santner 1 3 0 0 33.33   Axar Patel c sub (DP Conway) b Ferguson 24 14 3 1 171.42   Naman Dhir not out 42 15 5 2 280.00   Nitish Kumar Reddy not out 2 3 0 0 66.66   Bhuvneshwar Kumar               Arshdeep Singh               Mayank Yadav                               Extras (nb 1, w 16) 17           Total (19.4 overs) 230/6 RR: 11.69   New Zealand       Bowling O M R W NB WB Eco   Matt Henry 3.4 0 57 0 0 1 15.54   Adam Milne 3 0 43 1 0 2 14.33   Lockie Ferguson 3 0 34 1 0 3 11.33   Michael Bracewell 4 0 37 2 0 0 9.25   Mitchell Santner 4 0 39 2 0 1 9.75   Nathan Smith 2 0 20 0 1 0 10.00