Tim Seifert and Glenn Phillips powered New Zealand to a seven-wicket victory over India in the fifth and final T20I at Seddon Park on Sunday.
India won the five-match series 3-2 after taking the first three games. Chasing 192, New Zealand reached the target in 18 overs, with 12 balls to spare.
Seifert smashed 93, while Phillips remained unbeaten on 65, sharing an 86-run partnership for the third wicket. Phillips finished the series with a record 341 runs, surpassing Phil Salt’s previous mark of 331 in a bilateral T20I series. Earlier, India posted 191/8 after half-centuries from Ishan Kishan (61) and Shreyas Iyer (50), who added 93 runs for the third wicket. Naman Dhir contributed 33.
Adam Milne led New Zealand’s bowling attack with impressive figures of 4/19, while Nathan Smith and Blair Tickner claimed two wickets each.
Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy and Nitish Kumar Reddy picked up one wicket apiece for India as New Zealand completed their highest successful T20I chase against India.