NZ vs IND

12 midnight local time (4:30 PM IST): The action now moves to the ODIs, with the first game at Eden Park in Auckland on Wednesday, from 3:00 PM local time (7:30 AM IST). It will be a big test for Shubman Gill's Team India, as only a handful of games remain before the World Cup in Africa, just under 12 months from now. Can the Men in Blue come up trumps against the Blackcaps led by Mitchell Santner? We'll find out soon enough. This is the pair of Sourabh and Bidipto taking your leave for now. Keep following Sportskeeda! 

11:58 PM local time (4:28 PM IST): So that is that for the T20-leg of the tour. Seddon Park witnessed a fine run chase by the hosts, to stir the question of the what-ifs in the first two games, where New Zealand failed to win those key moments. However, the confidence-booster for Team India is the fact that the series has been won. Post the debacles in Ireland and England, this win in New Zealand will make the whole unit feel a lot better. 👇

Shreyas Iyer (India captain): "We could have done better with the bat. It wasn't an easy wicket to bat on, the hard length was causing a few problems. But we still managed to go past 190. But we were sloppy with the ball and in the field. However, great learnings for us to come overseas and win a series! We wanted to challenge ourselves tonight, we didn't live up to it, but great learnings. When you come overseas, you are challenged in different aspects of the game. We have to work on a couple of things, especially our fielding. Great to get the kind of crowd support here as well!"

Mitchell Santner (New Zealand captain): "It was a very hard-fought series, and had we done a few things right in the first couple of games, we could have won it! We mixed it up really nicely with the ball in the back ten. Yorkers, length, slower ones, we managed to stem the flow of runs. There is a lot of depth, but we've given guys opportunities to test themselves out. They've done well of course! So we're in a good space. The batting has been really good and Glenn Phillips was a really crucial part of it."

Glenn Phillips is of course the Player of the Series for his record-breaking 341 runs in 5 games: (how has it felt?) The calmness and the composure, it is a nice feeling. To go out there with a calm mind, to go out there and be more of a hunter and less of a prey. Today was about realizing spin was the type of bowling that needed to be taken down, the Indian boys did it to us. When Chakarvarthy came back to bowl, it was a bit of a make-or-break for us, it was worth the risk or he would have taken a heap of wickets. (momentum into the ODIs?) Hopefully, yes. Slightly longer format, can play the ebbs and flows of the game for longer and use the brainpower for longer trying to stay in the moment one ball at a time. (Hamstring okay?) Yeah it held up quite nicely

Adam Milne is the Player of the Match for his 4/19, this is what he had to say: Always nice to win the toss for Santner, 1 in 5 I guess. Nice to get out there early and make use of the conditions. There was some movement and some up and down bounce as well. (speaking about the lack of swing)  Not when they (the balls) get hit into the hoardings first and second ball.There was a little bit of swing here and there, we learnt a lot after the first couple of games. We all had our different plans, Tickner bowled beautifully in the middle period using the pitch and the knuckle balls. (how is the body?) Body is all good, nice to get through 4 games. Hopefully the boys can take the momentum into the ODIs.

11:35 PM local time (4:05 PM IST): New Zealand win by 7 wickets with 12 balls to spare! India win the 5-match series, 3-2.

Tim Seifert 93 (50) | Adam Milne - 4/19 (4)
Ishan Kishan  61 (32) | Arshdeep Singh - 1/40 (4)

Naman Dhir dropped Tim Seifert in the 4th over of the innings when he was struggling to get going. He ended up scoring 93 runs in only 50 balls! And Glenn Phillips remained not out on 65, at a strike rate of over 171, to cap off a series he can never forget, with bat in hand!

After losing three games in a row, and the series in the process, New Zealand have come back strongly to win the remaining two games and take much needed momentum into the ODI series, beginning Wednesday.

It wasn't the easiest of wickets to bat on, and the Indian new-ball bowlers did indeed make life tough for the New Zealand opening bats. Finn Allen got one to bounce more and Ishan Kishan was good enough to take the catch and put the visitors under immediate pressure. 

Then, after a lot of swinging and missing, Seifert slashed one to deep third man but Naman Dhir was not good enough to take a rather simple catch. Post that, the wicketkeeper-batter flicked the switch and scored heavily! 

First with Daryl Mitchell for a 73-run stand, and then with Phillips for an 86-run partnership, Seifert was at his best, smashing the Indian bowling around on both sides of the wicket. 

India's ground fielding was disappointing as well, with quite a few balls let to slip either past or through the hands. And of course, the lengths were all over the place towards the end. 

Varun Chakaravarthy did pick up a wicket, but got taken to the cleaners later on in his spell, warranting a case of having to come up with something different to what he has in his arsenal. 

It was a series that didn't live to the promise Bhuvneshwar Kumar brought with him. In fact, the selectors will be left with more questions than answers about his place in the squad! 

On the whole, the opportunity to defend a score and finish on a high, away from home, went a begging for Shreyas Iyer and his Team India, even if the series was pocketed with two games left. 

17.6 Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Glenn Phillips, FOUR! Fittingly Phillips hits the winning runs for New Zealand as he is a massive reason for New Zealand getting this 5-match series 3-2 eventually. Back of a length outside off, Phillips waits and then just dabs it in between short third and backward point for yet another boundary. The clean sweep was denied in Auckland and the 4-1 scoreline is denied here in Hamilton tonight as New Zealand have made a bit of a mockery of this target of 192. The Kiwis will be happy with the end of the series, India will take the honors but pretty sure there will be a bittersweet taste in their mouths.

17.5 Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Glenn Phillips, FOUR! Scores are level now. This time Bhuvi misses the line on the yorker, down the leg side and Phillips clips it away past short fine with ease

17.4 Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Glenn Phillips, bang in the blockhole, just 125 ks, Phillips squeezes it out back to Bhuvi and in the process acknowledges him as well. He can do it all

17.3 Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Glenn Phillips, short and wide, asking Phillips to fetch it from there. He throws some quick hands at the ball but does not make contact, one for the over says the square leg ump

17.1 Bhuvneshwar Kumar to Glenn Phillips, slow, short and wide, pulled away to deep square leg's left where Abhishek overruns it. Then uses his right hand to somehow stop it. Two taken and Glenn Phillips now has the world record for the most T20I runs in a bilateral series (333*)