India delivered one of the most dominant chases in T20I history on Tuesday at Hnry Stadium in Wellington, overhauling New Zealand’s 198/3 in just 13.2 overs to win by six wickets with 40 balls remaining.
Abhishek Sharma’s 113 off 38 balls and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi’s 45 off 19 powered the visitors to an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series while setting or equalling a string of records.
New Zealand’s total, built around Daryl Mitchell’s unbeaten 89, never looked enough once the openers got going. India raced past 50 in 2.2 overs, reached 100 in five overs, and finished the powerplay at 118/0.
Most balls remaining in a successful chase of 190 or more
India’s 40 balls unused while chasing 199 ranks among the quickest successful pursuits of a large total.
42 balls – Estonia vs Cyprus, Episkopi, 2024 (target 192)
40 balls – India vs New Zealand, Wellington, 2026 (target 199)
37 balls – Netherlands vs Ireland, Sylhet, T20 World Cup 2014 (target 190)
35 balls – Serbia vs Slovenia, Belgrade, 2025 (target 200)
34 balls – Bulgaria vs Gibraltar, Sofia, 2025 (target 244)
Among full-member teams, this bettered India’s own earlier mark against the same opposition in Raipur this year, when they chased 209 with 28 balls to spare.
Highest powerplay score and fastest team milestones
The 118-run powerplay is the highest ever recorded in men’s T20Is (where ball-by-ball data is available), surpassing Romania’s 116 against Serbia in 2021. It is also the highest by a full-member nation:
118/0 – India vs New Zealand, Wellington, 2026
116/0 – Romania vs Serbia, Sofia, 2021
113/1 – Australia vs Scotland, Edinburgh, 2024
103/1 – Zimbabwe vs Gambia, Nairobi, 2024
102/0 – South Africa vs West Indies, Centurion, 2023
India’s team 100 in five overs was the second-fastest in T20Is with available data, behind only Eswatini’s 4.5-over hundred against Mozambique. The 50 came up in 2.2 overs, the quickest by a full-member side. Jacob Duffy’s opening over cost 26 runs, the joint-most expensive first over of a T20I innings by a full-member team.
Abhishek Sharma’s sixes and century milestones
Abhishek Sharma finished with 11 sixes and nine fours, a boundary every 1.9 deliveries. His 11 maximums place him joint-second for most sixes in a T20I innings for India:
13 – Abhishek Sharma vs England, Mumbai, 2025
11 – Abhishek Sharma vs Afghanistan, Delhi, 2026
11 – Abhishek Sharma vs New Zealand, Wellington, 2026
10 – Rohit Sharma vs Sri Lanka, Indore, 2017
10 – Sanju Samson vs South Africa, Durban, 2024
10 – Tilak Varma vs South Africa, Johannesburg, 2024
10 – Ishan Kishan vs New Zealand, Thiruvananthapuram, 2026
He has now hit 10 or more sixes in a men’s T20I innings three times, second only to Austria’s Karanbir Singh (five). Across all men’s T20 cricket the numbers are:
18 – Chris Gayle
7 – Abhishek Sharma
5 – Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
5 – Karanbir Singh
His 35-ball hundred was his fourth in T20Is and 11th overall in the format, the most by an Indian and moving him past Virat Kohli. The opening stand of 133 in 7.1 overs came at a run rate of 18.13, the highest for any 100-plus opening partnership in T20Is between full-member sides.
After the match, Abhishek said: “That was the plan for us. Just get the momentum for the team and keep going.”
Looking ahead
The records highlight the current depth of India’s power-hitting. With the series already won, the remaining two games at Eden Park offer New Zealand a chance to slow the openers, but Wellington will be remembered as the night several T20I benchmarks fell in a single chase.