Phillips' century powers New Zealand to 87-run win over India

For three matches, New Zealand had chased the series without catching it. On Friday night at Eden Park, the chase ended in the most emphatic way possible: with a record total, a blistering century and a bowling burst that left India with nowhere to go. New Zealand's 87-run victory in the fourth Twenty20 international did not change who leads the series — India still lead 3-1 — but it changed the mood of it completely, and it gave the home side a first win to carry into the finale in Hamilton.

Sent in to bat after India captain Shreyas Iyer chose to field, New Zealand finished on 259 for 7 from their 20 overs, the highest Twenty20 international total ever made against India and the first 250-plus total in a Twenty20 international on New Zealand soil. India, chasing 260, never looked like getting there. They finished on 172 for 9, undone first by a devastating opening over and then by a target that kept growing in their minds long before it grew out of reach on the scoreboard.

Phillips turns a contest into a rout

Glenn Phillips was the architect. Coming in at number four, he reached his fifty in 31 balls and then shifted into a gear India simply could not match. The defining over came in the 16th, when he clobbered Nitish Kumar Reddy for four consecutive sixes, a passage of play that summed up the evening: bold, clean hitting, with no sign of caution. By the time Reddy finally removed him in the last over, Phillips had made 107 from just 49 balls, with six fours and ten sixes.

Michael Bracewell was just as ruthless at the other end. He needed only 19 balls to reach his fifty, and together the pair added 115 runs from 41 deliveries, driving New Zealand past 200 in the 16th over. It was the partnership that broke the game open. Earlier, Finn Allen had made 31 and Daryl Mitchell 24, but neither could push on; Phillips and Bracewell did not merely push on, they accelerated until India's bowlers had no safe option left.

Mayank Yadav was India's most successful bowler, taking three wickets for 48 runs, and he produced a double strike early in the innings. But on a night when the sixes rained at Eden Park, even that breakthrough could not stem the flow. A dropped chance summed up India's evening in the field: Naman Dhir misjudged a steepling catch when Phillips was on 57, and the batter made India pay in full.

Duffy strikes twice before India settle

If New Zealand's batting set the game alight, Jacob Duffy's bowling put it out as a contest. He struck twice in the opening over of India's reply, removing Sanju Samson for four and Ishan Kishan for nought, and India never recovered from that ragged start. A chase of 260 demands a flying start; instead, India were immediately chasing the game as well as the target.

Abhishek Sharma's brisk 27, ended by Matthew Fisher, offered a brief flicker of resistance, but the wobble became a crisis and then a formality. Tilak Varma battled for 35 and Naman Dhir made 28, yet neither innings could change the shape of the chase after such a poor powerplay. Duffy returned to complete figures of four wickets for 23 runs, the bowling performance that matched Phillips blow for blow.

A consolation win, not a consolation prize

The context matters. New Zealand had lost the first three matches of this five-match series, so Friday's win cannot rescue the series itself. What it can do is restore belief and momentum before the final Twenty20 international in Hamilton, and before the sides turn to a five-match one-day international series. For a home side that had been outplayed for much of the tour so far, a performance this complete — bat and ball, from the first over to the last — was overdue.

For India, the defeat is a reminder rather than a crisis. They still hold the series, and they have already shown, across the first three games, that they can outplay this New Zealand side. But Eden Park exposed what happens when the top order fails and the bowlers have no margin for error: a record total against them, a chase that never got started, and a margin — 87 runs — that tells the story without needing embellishment.

Brief scores: New Zealand 259 for 7 in 20 overs (Glenn Phillips 107 off 49 balls, Michael Bracewell 65; Mayank Yadav 3 for 48) beat India 172 for 9 in 20 overs (Tilak Varma 35, Naman Dhir 28; Jacob Duffy 4 for 23) by 87 runs.