Abhishek's whirlwind 113 seals the series in Wellington

India did not so much chase New Zealand's total as demolish it. Chasing 199 in the third Twenty20 international at Sky Stadium, Wellington, on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, India reached 199 for four in just 13.2 overs, winning by six wickets with 40 balls to spare and taking an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series.

The architect was Abhishek Sharma. The world's top-ranked Twenty20 batter smashed 113 off only 38 balls, striking nine fours and 11 sixes at a strike rate of 297.37. He reached fifty in 15 balls and his century in 35 balls, then celebrated with his now familiar meditation pose as Wellington watched in disbelief.

It was not a one-man show at the start, even if it soon became one. Promoted to open ahead of Sanju Samson, 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi scored 45 off 19 balls, hitting four fours and four sixes. Together, the left-handed pair put on 133 for the first wicket off just 43 balls, a stand completed in 7.1 overs.

A powerplay for the record books

The assault began immediately. Jacob Duffy's opening over cost 26 runs, and India were 64 without loss after three overs. They brought up 100 in five overs and finished the six-over powerplay on 118 without loss, reported as the highest powerplay total by any team in Twenty20 cricket.

Sooryavanshi was eventually dismissed by Matthew Fisher in the eighth over, but the damage was done. Abhishek continued with Samson, reached his century in the tenth over, and was eventually caught by Glenn Phillips off Kyle Jamieson after India had reached 178 for two in ten overs. A brief late wobble, in which Shreyas Iyer and Samson fell when India were close to victory, could not change the outcome.

New Zealand's 198 was not enough

India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss for the third match in a row and again chose to bowl. New Zealand made 198 for three, built around a fine unbeaten innings from Daryl Mitchell, who finished on 89 not out off 52 balls, with five fours and five sixes.

Finn Allen gave the innings its early impetus with 40 off 25 balls, and he and Mitchell added 86 for the second wicket. After Allen fell, Mitchell found another strong partner in Bevon Jacobs, who finished unbeaten on 39 off 23 balls. The pair added an unbroken 75 for the fourth wicket.

India's wickets were shared: Arshdeep Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Axar Patel took one wicket each. Arshdeep removed Tim Seifert early, Nitish dismissed Allen, and Axar removed Glenn Phillips for 17. More importantly, India restricted New Zealand to 52 runs in the last five overs, keeping a total that might have passed 210 within reach — at least on paper.

Records fall with the century

Abhishek's innings rewrote several record lines at once. His 11 Twenty20 centuries move him past Virat Kohli, who has ten, as the Indian batter with the most centuries in Twenty20 cricket. Only Chris Gayle, with 22, and Babar Azam, with 13, stand ahead of him on the all-time list.

It was also his fourth century in Twenty20 internationals, putting him level with Rohit Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav and Phil Salt for the joint second-most Twenty20 international hundreds. Glenn Maxwell leads that list with five.

The opening stand itself set a new benchmark for scoring rate. At 18.13 runs per over, it was the fastest 100-plus opening partnership in men's Twenty20 internationals, surpassing the previous mark of 16.08 set by England's Jos Buttler and Phil Salt against South Africa at Old Trafford in 2025.

Abhishek said after the match: "The key was pretty simple: Vaibhav and I enjoyed our time. When we were fielding, we saw there was some extra bounce. Vaibhav started off well, and we took the momentum from there."

The over when the umpires lost count

Even the officials were caught up in the pace of it all. During the eighth over, bowled by Fisher, the on-field umpires lost track of the ball count and referred the matter to the third umpire. After a no-ball and a wide were factored in, it was confirmed that one legal delivery remained in the over.

"Absolutely stunning"

Iyer, who had watched the carnage from the dressing room before going out to bat himself, was full of praise for his openers after the match.

"Absolutely stunning. It was pleasing to the eyes the way they played strokes. Also, when Sanju and I went to bat, the ball was seaming, and I was like, how did they manage this? It was simply mind-boggling," Iyer said. "Honestly speaking, getting 100 in five overs, I have never seen that before, especially at the international level."

What happens next

The series is decided, but it is not over. New Zealand will look for a response, and for a way to slow India's openers, when the fourth Twenty20 international is played at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday. India, meanwhile, will look to complete a clean sweep and keep building momentum.

For now, Wellington belongs to one innings: a target of 199, a chase finished in 13.2 overs, a record powerplay, and a century in 35 balls.