Match overview
New Zealand Cricket beat India Cricket by 50 runs in Visakhapatnam on 28 January 2026, ending India's run of five consecutive wins in the series. New Zealand posted 215/7 after India won the toss and chose to field. India never threatened the target in reply, losing wickets steadily before being bowled out for 165 with four dismissals coming in the final four overs. TL Seifert won the Player of the Match award. The result was built on a wicketless powerplay from New Zealand and then undone for India by a disastrous death-overs phase that produced only 20 runs from the bat.
India's decision to field first appeared sound on paper. The ground's chase success rate of 53 per cent across 58 matches means defending first is slightly the harder task. New Zealand, however, made a mockery of that logic. Their openers put on 71 without loss inside the first six overs, a platform that put the hosts immediately behind the game. India's own powerplay brought 53 runs but two early wickets, and they never found the rate or the partnerships to get back in front.
The margin of 50 runs flattered India slightly. By the time the death overs arrived, India required 71 from the final four with only four wickets remaining. They fell away to 20 for 4, a sequence that turned a competitive scoreboard into a comprehensive defeat.
Venue and conditions
The Dr Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Stadium in Visakhapatnam has hosted 58 T20 matches. The average first-innings score sits at 196, with second-innings teams averaging 169. Those numbers suggest a venue that does offer something to bowlers in the chase but remains very much a batter-friendly ground if you bat first and set a large target. New Zealand's 215 cleared the first-innings average by 19 runs.
The powerplay tends to yield 43 runs on average at this ground. New Zealand's 71 in that phase was 28 above par, which effectively set the tone for everything that followed. The death-overs average is 35, and with India managing only 20 in that phase, they came in 15 below what a typical side achieves here. That gap between New Zealand's powerplay dominance and India's death-overs collapse was, in broad terms, where the match was won and lost.
The toss has some bearing at Vizag: 59 per cent of toss winners elect to field, reflecting a degree of conventional wisdom that the surface quickens as the match progresses. India followed that logic and came unstuck against a New Zealand side that took full advantage of batting first.
How to watch
For UK cricket fans, T20I fixtures between India and New Zealand are broadcast live on Sky Sports Cricket. Coverage is accessible via a full Sky subscription, Sky Go for existing subscribers on mobile and tablet, or via a NOW TV day or monthly pass for those without a full package. Start times for matches in India typically fall in the morning for UK viewers, so the match on 28 January would have been an early-morning fixture for those watching live in Britain.
Recent form
New Zealand's win in Visakhapatnam was only their second in the last five meetings between these sides, with India having taken the previous three matches in the series and five in a row overall before this result. India's 96-run win at Narendra Modi Stadium was the most emphatic of those, with further victories by 46 runs, 8 wickets, 7 wickets and 48 runs underlining a series of comprehensive home performances.
New Zealand's turnaround in Visakhapatnam came from getting the basics right. A clean powerplay from their batters, consistent middle-overs wickets against India, and a ruthless death with the ball were the three phases that tipped the result. Whether that represents a genuine shift in the series or a single good day at an unfamiliar venue is a question the next fixture will go some way to answering.
