Seifert's 93 and Phillips' 65* Power New Zealand to 7-Wicket Win in Final T20I

New Zealand beat India by 7 wickets in the fifth and final T20I at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday, November 1. They chased down 192 in 18 overs, with 12 balls to spare. India still won the series 3-2. Tim Seifert scored 93 off 50 balls, and pacer Adam Milne won the Player of the Match award for his 4 for 19.

New Zealand won the toss and chose to bowl. India made 191 for 8. Milne struck early and removed Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma, and India were 19 for 2. Ishan Kishan then hit 61 off 32 balls, with 5 fours and 5 sixes. Shreyas Iyer made 50 off 23 balls. The two added 93 runs in 43 balls for the third wicket. India were 133 for 5 in the 14th over.

Milne also took the wickets of Nitish Kumar Reddy and Bhuvneshwar Kumar. Blair Tickner took 2 for 38, including Kishan and Naman Dhir. Nathan Smith took 2 for 28, including Iyer, and had Tilak Varma caught and bowled for 6.

New Zealand's chase began quickly. They scored 59 for 1 in the powerplay. Finn Allen fell early for 2, caught by Kishan off Arshdeep Singh. Seifert and Daryl Mitchell then added 73 runs in 42 balls. Mitchell hit 4 sixes in his 29 off 16 balls, and Varun Chakaravarthy had him caught at 82 for 2.

Seifert and Glenn Phillips put on 86 runs in 42 balls for the third wicket. Seifert hit 11 fours and 5 sixes. Nitish Reddy bowled him at 168 for 3 in the 16th over. Phillips finished unbeaten on 65 off 38 balls, with 8 fours and 3 sixes. Bevon Jacobs was the other man at the crease at the end.

India's bowlers could not stop the chase. Bhuvneshwar Kumar went for 41 in four overs without a wicket, and Arshdeep Singh took 1 for 40. Varun Chakaravarthy took 1 for 45, and Reddy took 1 for 19 in two overs.

It was New Zealand's second win in a row after they lost the first three games. The five-match ODI series starts on Wednesday, November 4, at Eden Park in Auckland.