New Zealand vs India Predictions - awesome Abhishek to hand New Zealand fourth straight defeat

Simon Lewis

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Last updated: 11 minutes ago

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Simon Lewis 11 minutes ago

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India have pulled off three successive chases to secure the five-match series.
New Zealand's Glenn Phillips has scored 82*, 70 and 17 in the three matches.
Can the Black Caps pull the brakes on Abhishek Sharma after his blistering 113 off 38 balls in Wellington?

Abhishek Sharma hit 11 sixes in his 38-ball 113 vs New Zealand (Getty Images).

New Zealand vs India Predictions

India are tipped to go 4-0 up after three successful chases, including a six-wicket win in Wellington with 40 balls in the bank. New Zealand have scored 225/4, 180/5 and 198/3 in the first three matches but their bowlers have failed to defend any of those totals.

New Zealand's Glenn Phillips has scored 82*, 70 & 17 in this series.
New Zealand's Bevon Jacobs has scored 31, 58 & 39* in his last 3 knocks.
New Zealand's Mitchell Santner has taken 2/39, 4/21 & 1/17 in the series.
India's Abhishek Sharma has scored 29, 27 & 113 in his last 3 innings.
India's Tilak Varma hit a match-winning 51* off 26 balls in the 2nd T20I.
India's Arshdeep Singh has figures of 1/45, 2/33 & 1/33 in the series.
India's Abhishek Sharma has hit 15 sixes in his 3 innings in the series.
The teams combined to hit 26 sixes in the 3rd T20I.
India have won their last five T20Is vs New Zealand.

Head-to-Head

India have beaten New Zealand by four wickets, four wickets and six wickets in the three matches in the series in securing a series win with two matches to go. Their most recent victory was particularly dominant after knocking off 199/4 off just 13.2 overs in chasing New Zealand's offering of 198/3 at Wellington. New Zealand also lost to India in the two preceding T20I meetings earlier in 2026.

New Zealand Form

The hosts have produced the goods with the bat that would win many T20Is but it has been their inability to close out matches with the ball against a powerful Indian batting line-up that has cost them the series.

Glenn Phillips has carried their batting with a superb 82* in the opener followed by a score of 70 in the 2nd T20I. Daryl Mitchell scored an impressive unbeaten 89 in the last match at Wellington.

Mitchell Santner bowled superbly to take 4/21 in the 2nd T20I but he needs more support from his seamers, all of whom took a battering in India's record 118-run powerplay display in the 3rd T20I.

India Form

The tourists have been superb value this series. They started by chasing down a target of 226 in the opening T20I, pulled off a last-over thriller in the 2nd T20I before demolishing their hosts in knocking off their 199-run target in Wellington.

Sanju Samson struck 67 in the 1st T20I, Tilak Varma made 51* in the 2nd T20I but it was Abhishek Sharma's astonishing 113 runs off just 38 balls to clinch the 3rd T20I that has been the highlight of the series.

India's relentless boundary-hitting, lower-order batting depth and flexible bowling options make them favourites again.

Team News

New Zealand were hoping to bring Lockie Ferguson back into the squad for Auckland after missing Wellington due to a workload plan but the bowler is not match fit and will be replaced by Matthew Fisher. Matt Henry is also out of the remainder of the T20I series.

Ishan Kishan missed India's second and third matches with a right adductor strain and his availability has not been confirmed. Eden Park's compact boundaries and recent T20 record point towards another high-scoring contest.

New Zealand (possible XI): Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Kyle Jamieson, Matthew Fisher, Adam Milne, Jacob Duffy.

India (possible XI): Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav.

Verdict

New Zealand v India 4th T20

India are backed to win for a fourth time in a row although with the series secured there is a chance New Zealand might bounce back to avoid losing six in a row to India. Glenn Phillips has been in devastating form with the bat while Arshdeep Singh has good odds to end the match as India's best bowler.

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Simon is a talented sports writer in South Africa with a strong focus on cricket having played first-team level for UCT, including playing at two Universities Weeks.

From a young age Simon was an avid reader of cricket magazines and books, and went on to be Editor of The Googly, CricketScene SA and SA Cricket, in addition to being a Features Writer on SA Sports Illustrated.

He has interviewed most of South Africa's premier cricketers and was the first writer to interview a teenaged Jacques Kallis.

Simon has also written about English and local football, rugby and cricket, in addition to major international tennis and golf stars and competitions.

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