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India vs New Zealand 5th T20I preview: dead rubber at Seddon Park, India lead 3-1, XIs and pitch
India lead the series 3-1 and face New Zealand in the fifth and final T20I at Seddon Park, Hamilton, on 1 November at 12:30 pm IST. It is a dead rubber after New Zealand won the fourth by 87 runs. Sooryavanshi and Dube could come in; Conway may replace Seifert.
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India face New Zealand in the fifth and final T20I of the series at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday, 1 November, with the toss and the start at 12:30 pm IST. India lead the five-match series 3-1 after New Zealand won the fourth match at Eden Park by 87 runs, so the match is effectively a dead rubber. The game will be shown on the Sony Sports Network and SonyLIV.
The series so far
India won the first three matches. In the third, India chased 199 and won by six wickets, according to one report. New Zealand won the fourth at Eden Park in Auckland after posting 259 for 7, with Glenn Phillips making 107 off 49 balls, and then restricting India to 172 for 9. Jacob Duffy took 4 for 23 in that match.
Head to head
The sides have met 35 times in T20Is, with New Zealand winning 18, India 14 and three ending with no result. The first meeting was on 16 September 2007, which New Zealand won, and the most recent was on 30 October 2026, which New Zealand also won.
Seddon Park has short boundaries and generally true, flat pitches that favour batters. Bowlers have little margin for error, and seamers may get some movement with the new ball. The reports found do not carry a weather forecast for Hamilton for the match.
Ishan Kishan was injured during the first T20I, regained fitness and returned for the fourth match in place of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. Sooryavanshi could return to India's XI for the fifth match. Aakash Chopra has questioned whether the young batter will play only when someone is injured. Shivam Dube may get a chance after sitting out the first four matches, and Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav have not played in the series, so at least one of them could come in.
New Zealand may bring in Devon Conway in place of Tim Seifert, who has scored 36 runs from four innings. Glenn Phillips has made two fifties and a century in four matches, including 107 off 49 balls in the fourth T20I, and Daryl Mitchell is the other key batter named in the preview.
| India | New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Abhishek Sharma | Finn Allen |
| Sanju Samson (wk) | Tim Seifert or Devon Conway (wk) |
| Ishan Kishan | Daryl Mitchell |
| Shreyas Iyer (captain) | Glenn Phillips |
| Tilak Varma | Bevon Jacobs |
| Nitish Kumar Reddy or Shivam Dube | Michael Bracewell |
| Naman Dhir | Mitchell Santner (captain) |
| Axar Patel | Nathan Smith |
| Prince Yadav | Adam Milne |
| Arshdeep Singh | Matthew Fisher |
| Mayank Yadav | Jacob Duffy |
These are predictions, and the teams are not confirmed. Another prediction has Sooryavanshi opening in place of Kishan, with Dube in the middle order, which shows how open the selection is.
With the series decided, the match gives India a chance to look at players who have not played. The reports found do not say whether the team management has decided to rest anyone.
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