New Zealand tour of India 2026 | 5th T20I | Preview and Predictions

The series might have been lost, but New Zealand picked up a crucial win in the fourth game of the five-match T20I series against India, ticking some crucial boxes ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup.

The action now moves to Thiruvananthapuram for the fifth and final game of the series. It is also the final game for both India and New Zealand before the World Cup next month, so both sides will be keen to fine-tune those final details.

Here, we present our preview and predictions for the fifth T20I of the 2026 New Zealand tour of India.

New Zealand tour of India 2026 | 5th T20I | 19:00 IST, January 31, 2026

The visitors finally had a good outing with the bat in the last game, as Tim Seifert and Devon Conway went the Abhishek Sharma route to smash their way through the Powerplay. After being 100/0 after eight overs, the Kiwis suffered a mini collapse, before late fireworks from Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner, and Zak Foulkes helped the team put up a competitive total of 215/7.

Seifert and Conway’s form will be a happy sign for the visitors heading into the World Cup, with Santner and the NZ management hoping that Rachin Ravindra, who seems to be locked in as their No. 3 for the World Cup, also gets one big innings before the World Cup. Ravindra and Mark Chapman have been the ones going through a rough patch with the bat and need to spend more time out on the pitch and get some runs under their belt at the earliest. 

The Kiwi bowlers were clinical as well last time out. Matt Henry led from the front with the new ball and struck with his very first delivery to send the dangerous Abhishek Sharma back. Jacob Duffy continued to impress, being consistent with the ball both early on and later in the innings, while Santner sent the Indian middle order back, further adding to their struggles against spin. 

India went into the fourth game with one less batter, having replaced the injured Ishan Kishan with Arshdeep Singh. Their batting proved to be a near-total failure on the night, though, raising some concerns for captain Suryakumar Yadav and coach Gautam Gambhir.

Abhishek Sharma had an off-day and was sent back on the first ball, while Sanju Samson was yet again unable to make the most of the more than sufficient chances given to him; time is running out for the veteran keeper, especially with Kishan in strong form. It would not be surprising if the Indian management were to drop Samson and go with Kishan alongside Tilak Varma, when the latter returns.

With Kishan missing out, Yadav moved back to his old No. 3 spot, with batters in the rest of the line-up moving up a spot. Yadav struck out as well, as did the experienced and usually reliable Hardik Pandya, leaving India struggling at 82/5. Some fireworks from Shivam Dube in the middle raised hopes a bit, but the hosts were always going to play a hard game of catch-up after losing the top order cheaply. Dube’s dismissal in the 15th over was the final nail in the coffin, sealing a big victory for the visitors.

Going into the final game of the series, India will hope Samson and the middle order get some runs under their belt, with the World Cup right around the corner. Samson, who is in the spotlight for the wrong reasons right now, will have more eyes and pressure on him than the other Indian batters.

In the last game, Conway and Seifert started in an explosive manner. The Indian bowlers had no answer to the Kiwi opening pair. Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav did manage to pull things back, but the inability to block the flow of runs early on by the younger bowlers like Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, and Ravi Bishnoi will be something the team will look to work on. 

The Thiruvananthapuram ground is another one that will have a batting-friendly wicket, so we should expect another high-scoring encounter.

Although the visitors picked up a crucial morale-boosting win in Vizag, India start as our favourites again given their squad depth and the firepower at their disposal.

Fantasy XI: Abhishek Sharma (c), Tim Seifert (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Mitchell Santner, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Matt Henry

Venue: Greenfield International Stadium, Thiruvananthapuram
Winners Prediction: India