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New Delhi: The fifth and final T20 match played between India and New Zealand at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram was full of high-scoring drama. Team India won this match brilliantly by 46 runs and won the five-match series 4-1.

After winning the toss and batting first, India scored 271 runs losing 5 wickets in 20 overs. The foundation of this explosive score was laid by Ishan Kishan, who played his first T20 International century. Kishan scored 103 runs in just 43 balls, which included 6 fours and 10 sixes. Captain Suryakumar Yadav played a quick inning of 63 runs (4 fours, 6 sixes) in 30 balls, while Hardik Pandya scored 42 runs (1 four, 4 sixes) in 17 balls to put the team in a strong position.

In reply, New Zealand, chasing the target of 272 runs, was all out for 225 runs in 19.4 overs. Finn Allen played a stormy innings of 80 runs in 38 balls (8 fours, 6 sixes), but the rest of the batsmen could not stand in front of the Indian bowlers.

Arshdeep Singh did wonders in Indian bowling and took 5 wickets for 51 runs in 4 overs. This was the first failure of his T20 International career, but it also created a record which no bowler would want. Arshdeep has now become the bowler who has taken 5 wickets giving the most runs in T20 International. Earlier this record was in the name of Alzarri Joseph of West Indies, who took 5 wickets for 40 runs against South Africa in 2023. South Africa’s Lungi Ngidi (5 wickets for 39 runs, against England in 2022) is at third place in the list.

Arshdeep gave away 40 runs in the first two overs, but later made a brilliant comeback and took important wickets and won the match for India. This left-arm fast bowler has taken 118 wickets in 76 T20 Internationals since his debut in 2022, which is the highest for India.

The match was high-scoring, where a total of 496 runs were scored and many records were broken, but Arshdeep’s bowling ensured India’s victory. Now Team India will start preparing for the T20 World Cup.