India National Cricket Team captain Shreyas Iyer was in awe as the touring side produced a stunning batting show to crush New Zealand by six wickets in the third T20I in Wellington on Tuesday, October 27. Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi smashed the New Zealand bowlers all around the ground as India chased down a target of 199 in just 13.2 overs.

With this win, India have taken an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match T20I series with two matches still left to play. Abhishek scored his fourth T20I century in just 35 balls, while the young Sooryavanshi (45 runs off 19 balls) gave him strong support in a record-breaking opening partnership of 133 runs off 43 balls in Wellington.

Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi destroy New Zealand attack

New Zealand had scored 198/3 in their 20 overs, with Daryl Mitchell leading the way with an unbeaten 89 off 52 balls. Finn Allen also played an important knock of 40 runs. The hosts had set a challenging target of 199, but the Indian openers made the chase look surprisingly easy.

Abhishek Sharma reached his half-century in just 15 balls before completing his fourth T20I hundred in 35 deliveries. On the other hand, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi also attacked from the start as the pair added 133 runs for the first wicket in only 7.1 overs.

India scored a record 118 runs without losing a wicket in the powerplay. The New Zealand bowlers tried different lines and lengths, but nothing worked as the Indian batters continued to smash them. Their opening stand left the hosts with very few chances to fight back in Wellington.

India script T20I history with 199-run chase

India completed the chase with 40 balls remaining, which is now the second-fastest successful chase of a target of 190 or more in T20 cricket. Among Full Member teams, it is now the record for the most balls remaining in a successful chase of at least 190 runs.

The previous record also belonged to India, who chased down 209 against New Zealand in Raipur earlier in 2026 with 28 balls to spare. The overall record in the list remains with Estonia, who chased 192 against Cyprus in 2024 with 42 balls remaining. Amid this, "Can't get 50 off 12”: Yuvraj Singh trolls Abhishek Sharma after carnage vs NZ.

Shreyas Iyer hails Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's incredible show

After India clinched the T20I series in New Zealand, Shreyas Iyer was impressed by the way Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi took control of the match.

The skipper pointed out that batting was not easy in Wellington, so he was surprised by how Abhishek and Vaibhav managed to score so quickly against the Black Caps.

Shreyas Iyer said at the post-match presentation, "Absolutely stunning. It was pleasing to the eyes the way they played strokes. Also, when Sanju and I went to bat, the ball was seamless, and I was like, "How did they manage this?" It was simply mind-boggling. Honestly speaking, getting 100 in 5 overs, I've never seen that before, especially at the international level. And definitely tops it.”

Shreyas Iyer explains why India turned to wide yorkers against New Zealand

Shreyas Iyer also explained that India's bowlers had tried to keep New Zealand below 200 by using wide yorkers after seeing how easily the batters were hitting half-volleys and hard-length deliveries. However, Indian openers made the target look small with their fearless batting.

Shreyas Iyer shared, "So, after 10 overs, I realized that anything they were bowling hard length or even half volleys was going into the stands. I just said to try and bowl yorkers as much as possible, even if you bowl six-ball yorkers."

"Make them hit down the ground, or a wide yorker is going to help us on this wicket. So, yeah, we were able to execute that and minimize that run rate to eight to nine; that helped us a lot to keep them at 10 runs and over. And yeah, our plan was to restrict them under 200."