Ishan Kishan's fiery century takes New Zealand by storm as India win 5th T20I by 46 runs

Ishan Kishan scored a century vs NZ in 5th T20I [Source: BCCI/X.com]India and New Zealand locked horns in Thiruvananthapuram for the fifth and final T20I of the Kiwis' white-ball tour of India ahead of the T20 World Cup. This marked the final match before the big tournament for both teams, meaning they went all in to end their preparations on a positive note. India had sealed the series 3-1 before this game, but the question over who keeps the wicket in the upcoming competition remained a question, which was finally solved by Ishan Kishan, who got a match-winning century.On the other hand, the explosive opener Finn Allen returned for the Blackcaps for the final T20I, increasing the firepower in the XI. As India won the series 4-1, here's how the final game panned out.Ishan Kishan takes over Sanju Samson's hometownHaving initially replaced Tilak Varma in the team at number 3, Sanju Samson's continued failures meant it was a golden opportunity for Kishan to seal the wicketkeeper's slot in the XI and he grabbed it with both hands.Batting first on his home turf, Samson only got 6 off 6 before getting out. Abhishek Sharma scored a brisk 30 (16); however, the star of the match was Kishan, who walked in at 31/1 in the 3rd over and went hammer and tongs to bat till the 18th over.He notably added 137(58) with Suryakumar Yadav for the third wicket before the captain got out for 63(30) with four fours and six sixes. Kishan went on to score a 103 in just 43 balls, toying with the bowlers with six fours and ten sixes before he was dismissed.Hardik Pandya also scored a quick-fire 42(17) with four sixes as India ended with 271 runs on the board. Lockie Ferguson was the pick of the bowlers for NZ with 2/41 to his name.Arshdeep and Axar neutralise the Finn Allen stormFinn Allen joined New Zealand for the solitary T20I in Thiruvananthapuram after lighting up the Big Bash League and instantly showed why he is among the hot commodities in the shortest format with his scintillating 80(38) with 8 fours and six sixes, farming the strike till he got out at the end of the 9th over to Axar Patel.Rachin Ravindra, who took a bit of time to settle in got two fours and two sixes but was eventually dismissed by Arshdeep Singh for 30 (17), followed by two quick wickets of the dangerous Glenn Phillips for 7 (6) and a two-ball duck for Mitchell Santner.The wickets kept falling from an end, while Daryl Mitchell scored 26 (12) with two fours and two sixes before he was dismissed by Arshdeep. The left-hand seamer ended up getting a five-wicket haul, despite going for a plenty in his first couple of overs. He ended with the figures of 5/51 and Axar Patel got 3/33, including the prized wickets of Allen and Phillips.Ish Sodhi added 33 (15) at the end but New Zealand fell well short of the target and lost by 46 runs. The series ended with 4-1 for the hosts. Abhishek Sharma and Rinku Singh rolled the arms at the end and the latter also picked the final wicket of the match.