Phillips' century, Duffy's four-for sinks India

India was the team that hit the most during three matches. New Zealand, on the other hand, retaliated in style at a sold-out Eden Park on Friday. The hosts posted 259/7, their highest T20I total and the highest India have ever conceded, thanks to Glenn Phillips' 107 off 49 balls and Michael Bracewell's 65 off 25. Jacob Duffy’s 4 for 23 then sent the visitors crashing to an 87-run defeat in the fourth T20I.

New Zealand were brought back in and given another early jolt two days after India chased 198 in Wellington with 40 balls left. Tim Seifert was caught at third man in the first over by Mayank Yadav, who was brought in to replace Bhuvneshwar Kumar. After scoring 20 runs off the first four balls of Mayank's second over, Daryl Mitchell was run out by a pinpoint yorker. Finn Allen kept the momentum going and New Zealand reached 67/2 in the Powerplay, their best of the series, before the opener holed out off Axar Patel for 31.

Bevon Jacobs was caught off a top-edged pull when Mayank struck again in the 11th over. India reaffirmed their threat to retake New Zealand at 112/4. The floodgates instead opened. Phillips and Bracewell added 115 off just 40 balls, the fastest 100-plus stand ever made against India. Bracewell took 16 off his first five balls and never looked like slowing down. Phillips, who had already made two fifties in the series, hit Nitish Kumar Reddy for four successive sixes in a 32-run 16th over, with Bracewell then following with three more off Mayank in the next, making it seven sixes in nine balls at one point in time.

Before Prince Yadav successfully attempted a lap, Bracewell reached fifty off 19 balls, the joint second-fastest against India. Phillips, though, carried on and hoisted a hundred off 46 balls with a six over long-off in the 19th over, the joint second-fastest by a New Zealand batter. He hit 10 sixes when he was finally caught at deep extra cover off Nitish for 107, but the damage was already done.

In total, New Zealand hit 20 sixes, a T20I record, and scored 150 runs in the final ten overs. Arshdeep Singh, who removed Santner for his 150th wicket in a T20I, was the only India bowler to concede less than 10 runs per over. In contrast, Nitish finished with figures of 1 for 64, which ranks fourth among Indian bowlers in T20Is.

New Zealand fared better this time around while defending a big total against a side that had made a habit of making them look small. Duffy removed Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan in the first over of the chase to give the hosts a headstart. After Santner dropped Abhishek Sharma on eight, he hit a six and three fours before Matt Fisher caught him in the middle for 27. Shreyas Iyer became the fourth batter to fall in the Powerplay when he was bowled by Adam Milne, with India reeling at 56/4.

Nitish was caught at extra cover for 21 runs, and Axar was caught and bowled by Santner in the ninth over. Naman Dhir responded with 28 off 13, but Duffy returned to have him caught by Mitchell and Nathan Smith's relay effort at the long-on boundary.

Tilak Varma's run-a-ball top score of 35 and Prince's 18 not out only reduced India's deficit in the 12th over, when the score was 121/8. India's 10-match unbeaten streak in T20Is in New Zealand ended with their second-heaviest loss by runs.