IND vs NZ, 1st T20I, 2025-26, Highlights: Abhishek Sharma’s explosive 84 off 35 proves decisive as India take a 1-0 lead.
Brief Scores: India 238/7 (Abhishek Sharma 84, Rinku Singh 44*, Jacob Duffy 2/27) beat New Zealand 190/7 (Glenn Phillips 78, Shivam Dube 2/28, Varun Chakravarthy 2/37) by 48 runs and lead series by 1-0.
Player of the match: Abhishek Sharma
Fresh from their 2-1 historic ODI series victory, New Zealand began their T20 World Cup 2026 preparation against India. The first of the five T20Is took place at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.
The visiting captain, Mitchell Santner, won the toss and opted to bowl first. He expected the game to be high-scoring. The surface felt a bit soft underneath with a good covering of grass. The Kiwis handed a T20I debut to seam bowling all-rounder Kristian Clarke with Michael Bracewell out with a calf injury.
Ishan Kishan returned to India’s XI at number three in Tilak Varma’s absence. It was his first T20I clash since November 23 as the hosts left out both Kuldeep Yadav and Harshit Rana.
Talking point: Rinku Singh should be regular in India’s World Cup plan
Rinku Singh’s contribution in the last three overs proved vital for India. He took on Daryl Mitchell in the final over and scored 21 runs to snatch the momentum. The management, therefore, must keep him in the XI to ensure an aggressive approach. Moreover, he provides great cushion for an aggressive opening should something go wrong.
In the 19th and 20th overs, Rinku has scored 213 runs at a strike rate of 287.84. Moreover, he is electric on the field, which is always an exciting package.
Read More: A well-deserved comeback for Shreyas Iyer in the T20I set up; What’s expected of him in this format?
India’s aggressive approach blows away NZ’s bowling for 238/7
Despite losing two wickets inside the powerplay, India got a solid platform of 68 runs with Abhishek Sharma tearing apart the Kiwi bowling attack. The southpaw scored his seventh T20I fifty in just 22 balls. His 99-run third-wicket stand with the captain, Suryakumar Yadav, helped the hosts to 149/4 in 12 overs.
The home side needed someone to stay till the end to give them the late firepower. Rinku stepped up with his blistering unbeaten 44-run knock in 20 balls to carry India to 238/7 in their allotted 20 overs. Meanwhile, for the tourists, Jacob Duffy used the variations brilliantly for his magical spell of 2/27 in four overs.
India’s timely wickets script 48-run victory; lead series by 1-0
New Zealand got off to the worst-possible start in the chase, losing two wickets in nine balls for one run on the board. Even though most of their batters struggled to find the boundary, Glenn Phillips seemed to be batting on a different surface. He notched up 78 runs in 40 balls, thanks to four boundaries and six sixes.
Phillips’ efforts, however, weren’t enough. Ultimately, the Blackcaps made their way to 190/7 to give the hosts a 48-run victory.
Read More: Ahead of T20 World Cup 2026, which are the areas India need to address in T20I series against NZ?
Statistical highlights from IND vs NZ 1st T20I, 2025, in Nagpur
- Since the beginning of 2025, Sanju Samson has collected only 88 T20I runs at a strike rate of 139.68 inside the powerplay while opening the batting. He has been dismissed 6 times during this phase.
- Suryakumar Yadav and Abhishek Sharma record India’s highest third-wicket T20I partnership (99) against New Zealand.
- Abhishek Sharma equals Kieron Pollard to record the second-most sixes (8) in a T20I innings against New Zealand. Richard Levi holds the record with 13 sixes in 2012.
- Abhishek Sharma (84) overtakes Rohit Sharma (80) to record the second most runs in a T20I innings for India against New Zealand while opening the batting.
- India post their highest T20I team score (238/7) against New Zealand to overtake their previous record of 234/4 in 2023.
- Rinku Singh struck at 220 in this match. It is his third-best strike rate in a T20I innings. (Min 25 runs)
- Arshdeep Singh has dismissed Devon Conway four times in T20Is. The New Zealand batter averages 5.8 against the left-arm pacer.
What’s to come
With India’s 1-0 lead, New Zealand aim to make a strong comeback as the focus shifts to the second ODI. The fixture will take place on January 23 at the Shaheen Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium in Raipur.
Top Twitter Reactions from IND vs NZ, 1st T20I, Nagpur 2025-26
Abhishek Sharma snd Samson at the top, Rinku Sungh at the finish, SkY and Pandya in the middle, India’s explosive batting line-up will be the dread of all teams in the T20 WC
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) January 21, 2026
Interesting to see Rinku in the XI. I think he is one of the few players in world cricket right now who understands the essence of middle-order batting truly. He can always come in clutch, handy against spin, but more importantly always packing a punch against pacers. #INDvNZ
— Priyank Panchal (@PKpanchal09) January 21, 2026
This team is such a joy to watch.
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) January 21, 2026
Full of aate hee kaam shuru kar diye energy. Well played 👏👏 #INDvNZ pic.twitter.com/KqPm31jsIO
3-0-28-2. There’s our 5th/6th bowler for the season. If Shivam can give us 2 overs every game, it’ll solve a lot of headaches! #IPL #CSK pic.twitter.com/mlyI32xs6U
— Ashwin 🇮🇳 (@ashwinravi99) January 21, 2026
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