Suryakumar Yadav at toss - (Source: X.com)
After weeks of enthrilling action, India and New Zealand are all set to lock horns in the fifth and final T20I at the Greenfield Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram. It is a dead-rubber as the hosts have already clinched the series with a 3-1 lead.
Talking about the fourth T20I, New Zealand, batting first, rode on Tim Seifert's powerhitting and put 215 runs on the board. In reply, India tumbled for just 165 runs. Abhishek Sharma scored his second duck of the series, but Shivam Dube showed fight and amassed 65 (23), which featured three fours and seven sixes.
India vs New Zealand 5th T20I Toss Update
Suryakumar Yadav and Mitchell Santner walked out for the toss and during the coin flip, India won the toss and opted to bat first. SKY remarked that since they have already clinched the series, India wanted to test their bowlers, which is why they opted to bat first.
Talking about the team changes, India have made three changes - Axar Patel returns, Ishan Kishan is back and Varun Chakaravarthy also return replacing Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, and Ravi Bishnoi.
For New Zealand, they too have made four changes to their playing XI - Lockie Ferguson returns and also Finn Allen, who was just available for the fifth T20I. Matt Henry also misses out as New Zealand are being careful about their bowlers because the T20 World Cup 2026 is just a week away.
India vs New Zealand 5th T20I - Playing XIs
New Zealand Playing XI: Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Bevon-John Jacobs, Mitchell Santner (c), Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy
India Playing XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakaravarthy
India vs New Zealand 5th T20I - Captains Thought
Suryakumar Yadav (India Captain): "We are gonna bat first tonight. There was a lot of dew last night, we want to test our bowlers. The curator said it's gonna be play true for the next 40 overs. No grass but we'll see. Axar, Ishan and one more guy comes back. Trivandrum, Sanju Samson is playing tonight."
Mitchell Santner (New Zealand Captain): “Yeah, it’s okay. There’s a bit more wind around tonight, so conditions might not be exactly the same as the other evening, but it’s another opportunity for us to bowl first. Honestly, it’s probably been the best part of our game in this series, so we’ll take that challenge again."
"In terms of team news, we’ve made four changes. Finn comes in for Conway, Jacobs replaces Chapman, KJ is back in the side, and Lockie comes in for Matt Henry. A couple of those are just precautionary - there are a few small niggles, and we want to make sure everyone is fully right," Santner added.
