Hamilton, Nov 2026 : New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner finally won the toss in the five-match T20I series against India, opting to bowl first in the fifth and final match at Seddon Park in Hamilton on Sunday.
After losing the toss in each of the previous four matches, Santner got his first success with the coin and elected to field on a fresh pitch, with both teams making changes to their playing XIs.
India brought back experienced pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar and spinner Varun Chakravarthy, while Mayank Yadav and Axar Patel missed out. New Zealand included Blair Tickner in place of Matt Fisher as the teams rotated their personnel for the series finale.
Santner said the possibility of dew later in the evening and the conditions on the new pitch influenced his decision.
“I just assumed I’d lose the toss. We’ll have a bowl. Obviously, a new pitch. Might be a little bit of dew later. Have to adapt quickly to the dimensions,” he said.
The New Zealand skipper added that his team had performed well with the bat throughout the series, although the previous match offered more assistance to seamers.
India captain Shreyas Iyer said his team had wanted to bat first and was pleased to get the opportunity, despite losing the toss.
“Great occasion to come here on this historical ground. We were looking to bat, wanted to test ourselves batting first. Auckland, the dimensions were different,” Iyer said.
He also praised Glenn Phillips for his outstanding performance in the fourth T20I, in which New Zealand secured a victory. Iyer confirmed that India had made two changes, with Bhuvneshwar and Chakravarthy returning to the side.
Bhuvneshwar had been left out of the previous match after featuring in three T20Is earlier in the series. Chakravarthy returned after missing the one-off T20I against Japan and the Asian Games due to an abdominal side strain sustained during the Afghanistan series.
Teenage batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi remained on the bench. He had featured in only two matches during the series, coming into the side when Ishan Kishan was injured.
India have already secured the series with an unassailable 3-1 lead. The Men in Blue won the first three matches before New Zealand bounced back in the fourth, setting up an opportunity for both teams to finish the series on a positive note.
Playing XIs
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (w), Finn Allen, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Adam Milne, Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner.
India: Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan (w), Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy.
