New Zealand tour of India 2026 | 5th T20I | Preview and Predictions
The series may have been lost but New Zealand picked up a crucial win in the fourth game of the ongoing five-match T20I series against India as the visitors got some crucial boxes ticked ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. The action now moves to Thiruvananthapuram for the fifth and final game and it is the final international game for both teams before the World Cup 2026 next month as they will look to lock in 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 as Tim Seifert and Devon Conway chose the Abhishek Sharma-play style to smash their way through the Powerplay. After being 100/0 in eight overs,the Kiwis suffered a mini collapse before late fireworks from Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner and Zak Foulkes saw New Zealand put up a competitive 215/7. Seifert and Conway’s form will be a happy sign for the visitors heading into the World Cup with Santner and the management hoping that Rachin Ravindra, who seems to be locked in as their no. 3 for the World Cup, gets one big innings before the World Cup as well. Ravindra and Mark Chapman have been the ones who have gone through a rough patch with the bat and New Zealand will expect both to spend some time and get some runs under their belt at the earliest.
The bowlers were clinical as well for the visitors with Matt Henry leading from the front with the new ball and Henry struck on the first ball of the innings to send the dangerous Sharma back. Jacob Duffy continued to impress, being consistent with the new and old ball while Mitchell Santner sent the Indian middle order back as the hosts continued to struggle against spin.
India went into the fourth game with one less batter as the injured Ishan Kishan was replaced by Arshdeep Singh. The batting was a complete failure for the hosts and will raise some concerns for captain Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir. Abhishek Sharma had an off-day but it was Sanju Samson, yet again unable to make the most of the prolonged chances given to him and with time running out for Samson with Kishan being in strong form, it remains to be seen if the management continues with Samson and brings in Kishan when fit along with Tilak Varma. With Kishan missing out, Yadav moved back to his old no.3 spot as the remainder of the batting lineup went up a spot. Yadav missed out as well as the experienced Hardik Pandya which had India struggling at 82/5. Some fireworks from Shivam Dube raised some hopes but having lost the top order cheaply, the hosts were always playing catch up and Dube’s dismissal in the 15th over was the final nail in the coffin. India will hope Samson and the middle order gets some runs under their belt before the World Cup and Samson, who is in the spotlight for the wrong reasons, will be the one with all the eyes and pressure on him.
Conway and Seifert started in an explosive manner which meant that the Indian bowlers early on had no answer to the Kiwis opening pair but Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav pulled things back but the inability to block the run flow early on from 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 be a batting-friendly wicket. We should expect another high-scoring encounter and although the visitors picked up a crucial morale boosting win in Vizag, India starts as the favourites given the squad depth and firepower at disposal gives the hosts the edge.
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
