IND vs NZ 5th T20I Highlights: India beat New Zealand by 46 runs, bag series 4-1

India have won this as Rinku Singh takes the final wicket. They have bowled New Zealand for 225 in 19/4 overs to win this by 46 runs.

Make it nine please. New Zealand are all set to be bowled out. Axar cleans up Ferguson to send NZ nine down.

Arshdeep gets his fifer. He gets Mitchell, who reverse-hits this but ends up hitting it to the stumps. What a night for India.

And Arshdeep strikes once again. After a couple of fours, he gets Jamieson as New Zealand go down to 179/7.

Varun breaks into the wicket column as he dismisses Jacobs with a brilliant googly, as the batter fails to pick this up. NZ 166/6 after 14.1

While this might be over, Mitchell and Jacobs have started taking on Bumrah. Mitchell hits him for a four and a couple of sixes before Jacobs hits him for a four. 22 runs from Bumrah's third over.

Arshdeep gets another and he is redeeming himself after those two expensive overs. Another short one as Santner looks to pull but top-edges this to SKY at covers.

Arshdeep has been brought into the attack and he strikes straight away. A short slower one from the left-hander as Rachin looks to hook it but mistimes this to Axar at deep square leg.

Axar Patel has another here. He dismisses Glenn Phillips in his third over. The batter mistimed this long in the air to long-on and is taken by Rinku Singh. Mitchell is now in. NZ would feel pressure as they need to keep scoring at rate of knots. 

New Zealand are doing well here against India as Finn Allen has provided a brilliant start. They need to keep the foot on the pedal and see what can happen from here. NZ 131/2 after 10 overs. Need 141 in next 10.

India and Ishan Kishan would be so relieved to see the back of Fin Allen as Axar gets the big wicket. This was short as Allen looked to go big but found Rinku Singh at long-on.

Varun Chakravarthy proved costly in his second over, leaking 17 runs in his second over. New Zealand are not walking away without a fight. They are 105/1 after just eight overs. Interesting 12 overs remainng.

Axar Patel conceded just nine runs in his first over. He was hit for a six in the first ball of the over, but the spinner bounced back well. New Zealand are 88/1 after seven overs. All eyes on Finn Allen, who has been ruthless so far.

Finn Allen completes his half-century in just 22 balls. He was the leading run-scorer in the recently concluded BBL and upon his return to India, he kept up with the momentum, scoring a fifty in his first game of the series. What a boost for New Zealand ahead of the T20 World Cup.

Jasprit Bumrah concedes 10 runs off his first over. Allen is closing on his half-century. Even though it's a great start as New Zealand are 66/1 after five overs. However, the goal will be get better as the chase is a mammoth one.

Some phenomenal batting from Finn Allen in the middle. He looks ruthless in the middle. Arshdeep Singh has conceded 40 runs in his two overs. 23 runs off his second over. New Zealand off to a cracking start as they are 46/1 after three overs.

After leaking 17 runs in the first five balls, Arshdeep Singh gets the better of Tim Seifert in the first over. The New Zealand international departed for 5 runs off three balls. A huge blow for the Kiwis. Rachin Ravindra joined Finn Allen in the middle.

In a significant development from what may come is that Ishan Kishan has been handed the gloves to keep in this game. Samson will be on the field but won't keep wickets today. Tim Seifert and Finn Allen in the middle as Arshdeep Singh takes the new ball.

A six to end the innings for India off a free-hit as Dube hits this down the ground. India end on 271/5, their third-highest total in T20I cricket, behind their 297/6 and 283/1. This was some batting show. What a century from Ishan Kishan. Suryakumar Yadav struck a brilliant fifty too, as Hardik came with late fireworks. 

And now Hardik and Rinku have taken the attack to the New Zealand bowlers. India have crossed their 250 and have breached their third-highest total of 260 in T20Is. And Hardik Pandya has been dismissed as he mistimes this to deep mid-wicket.

End of what was a spectacular innings from Ishan Kishan. Has he booked his spot for the T20 World Cup 2026? You can't drop a man who is scoring so well. He falls on this shorter one as Phillips hold on to this at deep mid-wicket. India 233/4 after 17.3. Rinku is in.

And here it is. What a return for the Jharkhand man in Indian colours. A 42-ball hundred for him. Two back-to-back sixes as he gets to the ton. 

This was a low full-toss from Jamieson as Kishan looked to swing it. He did not get the whole of it as his left hand came off the bat grip. This went to the safest man out there: Phillips on head height. But he can't hold on to this one as it goes for a six. India get to their 200 in 15.4 overs.

End of a brilliant knock from Suryakumar Yadav. He has been stumped out as he charged down the track on this away turner from Santner. SKY is beaten all ends up as Seifert stumps him out. He walks back for 63 from 30 balls. Hardik makes his way in.

And now SKY joins the party as well. He has hit 23 from this Duffy over. Three sixes and a four as he brings up his fifty. India 178/2 after 14.

This is some batting display, Kishan with SKY playing a perfect second foil. 14 from the 13th over as SKY completes his 3000 runs in T20I cricket. India have crossed 150 and SKY has gone past his 50 too.

What is this man up to? He smacked 28 runs from Ish Sodhi, excluding a wide. Four fours and two sixes as he punishes Sodhi all around the park. 

Ishan Kishan up with another strong knock here at the Trivandrum. A 28-ball fifty for Kishan and his second fifty of the series. 

What a form Ishan Kishan is in? He is breathing fire here in Trivandrum. He dances down for a four over extra cover and then slog sweeps Santner for a six. SKY also hit a six straight down the ground as India bring up their 100 and the two players notched up a 50-run stand. Drinks time. India 102/2 after 10.

India were off to a flying start, all thanks to Abhishek Sharma. But after the loss of the openers, there have been occasional hits from the Indian batters. This is a black soil pitch, and it is not the best of the surfaces for the batters. Some of the balls have not been timed well, so this might not be a 220-like surface.

That's the end of the powerplay. Six runs from the sixth over with SKY hitting a four. India have lost both of their openers and have captain Suryakumar Yadav and Kishan in the middle. India 54/2 after 6.

Abhishek Sharma has been dismissed here. A 145kph thunderbolt from Ferguson right on the stumps as Sharma steps out but misses it. India 48/2 after 5. 

Here is some stat for you. Sanju Samson has opened the innings for India 15 times in T20Is and there are only two instances of him going past 30. One was his 111 vs Ban in Hyderabad in 2024 and the other was the 37 vs SA in Ahmedabad in 2025.

And Samson falls for another cheap score. He throws the kitchen sink at this Ferguson fuller ball and edges this to deep third. So yet another poor outing for the opening wicketkeeper and his place looks in more danger now, especially if Kishan scores big now for the third time in his fourth innings this series.

Had a slip been there, Sanju Samson would have been dismissed for a duck. But his outside edge flies to the right of the keeper as he gets his first four. Abhishek then punches one for a four and then goes aerial for a six. India 29/0 after 2.

As it has been the case, Abhishek is quick off the blocks here in Trivandrum. It's all or nothing for him usually. He steps down, hits Duffy over covers for a six, then guides a short one over third for a four and then another four over covers. India 14/0 after 1.

Here are the two Indian openers in the middle. Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson are out there as Abhishek takes the strike. Duffy has the new ball in his hand. Off we go.

Just like at many other venues, India boast a strong record at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram. The Men in Blue have won three of their four matches at this venue, with their last loss coming in 2019 to West Indies.

"We are in beautiful Thiruvananthapuram for the final and the fifth T20I of the series. Well, it's nice and pleasant, a little on the warmer side and a little on the humid side as well. Having said that, this is the smallest playing area we've had so far in this series. Looking at both the sides, it's just 63 meters, straight down it's 74. It's the smallest ground. I think that's going to assist the fact that it's probably going to be high scoring. That will be one of the keys to it. But I just think it looks a little bit tacky to me. I had a little feel of it earlier when we looked down on it. It's quite dry, but underneath I think there's a little bit of moisture. So I think it might be just a little bit tacky. It might hold in the surface a touch. The outfield looks fantastic. That will probably assist the fact that it might be relatively high scoring. I don't think it's a big high 200s sort of a surface, but I just think there'll be enough in it. Groundsman says not a lot of dew, which is a good thing because that's played a bit of a role in the first few games. I just think if you bowl well, if you hit the right line and length on it, there might just be enough there from a slow, low, sticky, caught at mid-off, caught at cover, point of view for the bowlers. The other thing that generally bowlers do get help here because it's kind of an open venue, this one. You have these blocks where the winds blow and that's where the bowlers do get a little bit of lateral movement, swing movement as well. So that's something that definitely does help the bowlers. I still think it'll be on the higher side, this pitch here, would help the batters," Deep Dasgupta and Simon Doull in their pitch report.

New Zealand (Playing XI): Tim Seifert(w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Bevon Jacobs, Mitchell Santner(c), Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy

India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah

"It might not be too dewy tonight. We have got four changes - Allen in for Conway, Neesham is in for Chapman, KJ and Lockie are in. It is always nice to have them back. And it is an opportunity to see what they have got," Santner said at the toss.

"We are going to bat first. We were here last night, there was a lot of dew and we want to test ourselves. The groundsman says it is going to be true for 40 overs. Axar comes back, Ishan comes back and one more. Don't worryy Thiruvananthapuram, Sanju Samson is playing tonight. We are waiting for him (Tilak). We have almost covered all the departments, every game we learn something and take it forward," SKY said at the toss.

India have won the toss and will be batting first. Surya confirms India have made three changes. Axar and Ishan are back, and SKY forgets the third change.

Axar played in the first match when he picked up a blow to his finger. He has been on the sidelines since that game in Nagpur, with India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak saying that he would "very likely" play before the game.

While the series ins already in the bag, India would hope for Sanju Samson to fire and finally get some runs under his belt. Ever since replacing Shubman Gill at the top, he has scored just 40 runs in four innings during this series. And with Ishan Kishan firing well, he is under big pressure now. Can Samson stand up tall at his home ground in Trivandrum? We will find it out soon.

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the fifth T20I between India and New Zealand at the Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram. India have already clinched the series 3-1 and don't have much to prove, as they have been brilliant althrough the series, barring the previous game, where they experimented much and lost. Stay tuned as I, Varun Malik, take you across this final match of the series.