Samson and Naman Dhir power India to record 226 chase in Christchurch opener

India pulled off the biggest chase of their T20I rivalry with New Zealand on Thursday, scoring 230 for 6 in 19.4 overs to beat the hosts by four wickets at Hagley Oval and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

New Zealand had posted 225 for 4, built around Glenn Phillips’ unbeaten 82 off 40 balls. It was not enough on a true pitch with heavy dew settling over the outfield as the night went on, and India got home with two balls to spare. It was the highest successful chase at the ground.

A flying start, then a wobble

Sanju Samson set the tone. He reached his fifty off 23 balls and made 67 off 33 before under-edging a cut off Mitchell Santner in the ninth over. Abhishek Sharma, who hit the first ball of the chase for six, made 29 off 12, and the openers had 93 on the board inside six overs.

Then the chase lurched. India went from 93 without loss to 128 for 4 in four overs as Michael Bracewell (2 for 37) and Santner (2 for 39) dragged New Zealand back. Tilak Varma went for 6 and Ishan Kishan for 1, caught by Finn Allen off Santner.

Captain Shreyas Iyer steadied things with 42 off 28 balls, adding 45 with Axar Patel, who made 24 before Lockie Ferguson removed him. When Iyer fell to Milne’s first ball of the 19th over, the game was back in the balance.

Dhir finishes it

Naman Dhir, batting at No. 7, walked in with India needing 48 from the last 24 balls. He took 19 off Santner’s 17th over, rotated the strike when he had to, and sealed it with a four and a six off Matt Henry in the final over. He finished on 42 not out off 15 balls.

Earlier, Phillips and Bevon Jacobs, who struck his first ball for six on the way to 31 off 16, added 73 for the fourth wicket. Allen made 45 off 24. Mayank Yadav (1 for 40) was the pick of India’s bowlers, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar went for 49 in four wicketless overs on his return. Both sides were penalised for slow over rates late in their innings.

“Credit where it’s due”

Phillips, who closed the New Zealand innings with a switch-hit four off Bhuvneshwar, did not hide from the result. “You’ve also got to give credit to the chasing side for chasing 226,” he said. “Obviously they’re fantastic. You’ve got to have a plan C, D, E, F, G, H.”

He also praised the surface. “The pitches are fantastic as well,” Phillips said, adding that the toss was “a little bit of a toss-up here and there”. On Jacobs’ first-ball six, he said: “He doesn’t necessarily have to hit a six-first ball every game.”

What comes next

The win extends India’s grip on New Zealand in the shortest format after they beat them by 96 runs in the T20 World Cup final in March. Four more T20Is follow before the series ends on 1 November, with all games starting at 12:30 pm IST. Five ODIs begin on 4 November and two Tests on 19 November.