Christchurch T20I: India hunt down 226, their biggest successful T20I chase, to win by four wickets and go 1-0 up against New Zealand

India overhauled New Zealand’s 225 for 4 with two balls left, reaching 230 for 6 in 19.4 overs and take Thursday’s first T20I at Christchurch’s Hagley Oval by four wickets. The target of 226 is the biggest India have ever chased down in a men’s T20 international. India now lead the five-match series 1-0.

The match at a glance

• Result: India won by four wickets, two balls left
• Toss: India’s captain Shreyas Iyer, from Mumbai, won it and chose to bowl
• New Zealand: 225 for 4 in 20 overs
• India: 230 for 6 in 19.4 overs
• Player of the match: Sanju Samson (67 off 33 balls)
• Series: India lead 1-0

What exactly is the record?

It is an India record, not a world one. Before Thursday, India’s highest successful chase in T20Is was 209, achieved twice: against Australia in Visakhapatnam in 2023 and against New Zealand in Raipur earlier this year. Thursday’s target was 17 runs bigger.

New Zealand’s innings: Phillips unbeaten on 82

• Glenn Phillips: 82 not out off 40 balls (eight fours, three sixes)
• Finn Allen: 45 off 24; Tim Seifert: 24 off 17
• Daryl Mitchell: 28 off 19; Bevon Jacobs: 31 off 16
• Phillips and Jacobs put on 73 off 32 balls for the fourth wicket, and New Zealand took 67 from the last five overs
• India’s bowling: Mayank Yadav 1 for 40, Arshdeep Singh 1 for 45, Axar Patel 1 for 51; Bhuvneshwar Kumar (49 runs) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (40) went wicketless
• Arshdeep also ran out Jacobs

India’s chase: a flying start, then a wobble

Openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma put on 93 for the first wicket in 5.5 overs, and India were 94 for 1 after the six powerplay overs. Samson’s fifty came off 23 balls; he struck eight fours and four sixes in his 67. Abhishek made 29 off 12.

New Zealand’s spinners then pulled the game back. Michael Bracewell (2 for 37) and captain Mitchell Santner (2 for 39) removed Samson, Tilak Varma (6 off 11) and Ishan Kishan (1) in quick succession, leaving India 122 for 4. Iyer and Axar Patel (24 off 14) steadied things with 45 off 24 balls.

How the last overs went

• When Axar fell in the 15th over (167 for 5), India needed 59 off 33 balls
• After 16 overs the ask was 48 off 24; Santner’s 17th over went for 19
• After 18 overs India were 210 for 5, needing 16 off 12
• Adam Milne removed Iyer off the opening delivery of the 19th over (210 for 6), ending a stand of 43 off 22 balls with Naman Dhir
• Eight were needed from the last six balls; because of their slow over rate, New Zealand had to bring one more fielder up from the boundary for that over
• Dhir hit Matt Henry’s first ball for four; after two singles, he top-edged the fourth over the wicketkeeper for six to finish it

Dhir, batting at No. 7, finished unbeaten on 42 from 15 deliveries, hitting five fours and two sixes. New Zealand’s fielding also slipped: according to reports, Finn Allen dropped Iyer and Lockie Ferguson dropped Dhir. They conceded 17 extras in India’s innings, 16 of them wides.

Maharashtra’s players

• Shreyas Iyer (Mumbai): won the toss as captain and chose to field; scored 42 off 28 balls (one four, two sixes) before he was caught by Santner.
• Shivam Dube (Mumbai): in the squad but not in the playing XI for this match.

What the players said

At the post-match presentation, Iyer said of his openers that “they know exactly what they’re doing”, and described Dhir’s “calm and composed nature” as “simply magnificent to see”. Samson, the player of the match, called it “completely a team game”. New Zealand captain Santner said the match “could have gone either way”. (Comments as published by Cricbuzz and CricTracker.)

When and where is the next match?

• 2nd T20I: Saturday 24 October, Hagley Oval, Christchurch; starts 12.30 pm IST (toss at 12 noon)
• 3rd T20I: Tuesday 27 October, Wellington
• 4th T20I: Friday 30 October, Auckland
• 5th T20I: Sunday 1 November, Hamilton
• Broadcast in India: on Sony Sports Network, and streaming on SonyLIV

Sources: Cricbuzz (full scorecard); Cricbuzz (match report); IANS via Sambad English; Business Standard; CricTracker (post-match comments); News18 Lokmat; Pudhari