Seifert and Phillips lead New Zealand to seven-wicket win, but India take T20I series 3-2

New Zealand beat India by seven wickets in the fifth and final T20 international in Hamilton on Sunday, but India won the five-match series 3-2 after taking the first three games.

Tim Seifert made 93 and Glenn Phillips an unbeaten 65 as New Zealand chased down 192 in the 18th over at Seddon Park, after fast bowler Adam Milne's 4 for 19 had kept India to 191 for 8.

India's innings

Put in to bat, India made a slow start: Jacob Duffy gave away two runs in the first over, and Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson were both out with 19 on the board in the fourth over. India were 50 for 2 at the end of the powerplay, ANI reported.

Ishan Kishan, with 61 off 32 balls including five sixes, and captain Shreyas Iyer, who hit 50 off 23 balls with four sixes, then rebuilt the innings. Iyer took a six, a four and a six off Michael Bracewell in the 10th over. The Free Press Journal put their third-wicket stand at 107; ANI's report gave it as 93. Naman Dhir added 33 off 23 balls and Nitish Kumar Reddy 22 off 17, according to ANI.

Milne was the pick of New Zealand's bowlers. Blair Tickner, who removed Kishan, and Nathan Smith, who dismissed Iyer, took two wickets each, ANI reported. India's late order could not push the total past 200.

New Zealand's chase

New Zealand lost Finn Allen for 2 to Arshdeep Singh in the second over. Seifert, dropped on 13 according to the Free Press Journal, then took control, putting on 86 with Daryl Mitchell, who made 29 off 16 before falling to Varun Chakaravarthy. Seifert hit 11 fours and five sixes in his 50-ball 93 before Nitish Kumar Reddy bowled him in the 16th over, seven short of a hundred.

Phillips finished the job, hitting eight fours and three sixes in 38 balls. It was his fourth score of 50 or more in the series, which included a 46-ball century in New Zealand's 87-run win in the fourth match at Auckland on Friday.

The two reports differ slightly on how many balls were left: the Free Press Journal said New Zealand won with 12 balls to spare, while ANI gave the finish as 17.4 overs.

The series

India won the first three matches to take an unassailable lead before New Zealand won the last two. In those two games New Zealand scored 259 for 7 on Friday and then chased 192 on Sunday for the loss of three wickets, with Phillips scoring heavily in both.

What happens next

The teams now play a five-match one-day series, starting in Auckland on Wednesday, November 4. The fourth and fifth matches are at Mount Maunganui on November 13 and 15. Shubman Gill leads India in the first three ODIs, with Iyer taking over for the last two before the Test series.