Hamilton | India clinched the five-match T20I series 3-2 despite suffering a seven-wicket defeat to New Zealand in the final game here on Sunday.
Ishan Kishan (61 off 32 balls) and skipper Shreyas Iyer (50 off 23 balls) struck explosive half-centuries, but New Zealand pacers, led by Adam Milne's 4/19, fought back to restrict India to 191/8 after Mitchell Santner opted to bowl.
Opener Tim Seifert returned to form with a majestic 93 as the home side cruised to the target in 18 overs.
The in-form Glenn Phillips (65 not out; 38b) sealed the chase, taking his tally to four 50-plus scores, including a century.
Brief Scores
India 191/8 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 61, Shreyas Iyer 50; Adam Milne 4/19) lost to New Zealand 192/2 in 17.1 overs (Tim Seifert 93, Glenn Phillips 65 not out) by seven wickets.
New Zealand:
Tim Seifert b Nitish Kumar Reddy 93
Finn Allen c Ishan Kishan b Arshdeep Singh 2
Daryl Mitchell c Abhishek Sharma b Varun 29
Glenn Phillips not out 65
Bevon Jacobs not out 1
Extras: (LB-2 W-3) 5
Total: (3 wickets in 18 overs) 195
Fall of wickets: 1-9, 2-82, 3-168
Bowling: Bhuvneshwar Kumar 4-0-41-0, Arshdeep Singh 4-0-40-1, Prince Yadav 3-0-35-0, Varun Chakravarthy 4-0-45-1, Nitish Kumar Reddy 2-0-19-1, Abhishek Sharma 1-0-13-0.
