Abhishek Sharma’s sensational 35-ball century led India to a six-wicket victory over New Zealand in Wellington, sealing an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match T20I series. Opening the batting alongside Vaibhav Sooryavanshi instead of Sanju Samson, the pair launched an explosive assault from the start.
The Men in Blue set a new record for the fastest team hundred in T20Is between Full Member nations, reaching the milestone in just 5 overs. The duo put up 118 runs in the powerplay, registering the highest six-over score in men's T20I history.
Abhishek Sharma led the carnage with a 14-ball half-century before bringing up his 4th T20I hundred off 35 balls. Sooryavanshi contributed 45 off 19 balls before being dismissed. The century was Sharma's fourth in T20Is and 11th overall in the format, taking him past Virat Kohli's record for the most T20 centuries. Samson then added 18 runs, while Naman Dhir finished the chase in style with a four as India reached the target in just 13.2 overs.
Earlier, after Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl, Arshdeep Singh provided an early breakthrough by dismissing Tim Seifert in the second over. Daryl Mitchell (89* off 52) anchored the innings alongside Finn Allen (40) and Bevon Jacobs (39*) to lift New Zealand to 198/3. Arshdeep Singh, Axar Patel, and Nitish Kumar Reddy picked up a wicket each.
India leads the series 3-0, with the 4th T20I set to take place on October 30 at Eden Park, Auckland.
