Sanju Samson 67, Naman Dhir 42*: India chase 226 to beat New Zealand by 4 wickets in 1st T20I

Samson's charge and Dhir's finish

The winning runs came with two balls to spare. India needed 226, and Sanju Samson took the opening burst to 93 runs in under six overs before New Zealand's spinners dragged the game back. Naman Dhir finished it instead — a six off the fourth ball of the final over sealing a four-wicket win at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, on Thursday.

According to the Indian Express, India's 230 for 6 in 19.4 overs is the team's highest successful chase in T20 internationals. The win puts India 1-0 up in the five-match series.

How the chase unfolded

Samson went hard from the start. He reached his fifty in 23 balls, and his 67 came off 33 deliveries with eight fours and four sixes, the Indian Express reported. Abhishek Sharma matched him early — 29 off 12 balls, including three sixes — before falling to off-spinner Michael Bracewell on the penultimate ball of the powerplay, per the same report.

Then the game turned. New Zealand spinners Mitchell Santner and Bracewell struck in the middle overs, and India lost Samson, Tilak Varma and Ishan Kishan in consecutive overs, slumping from 93 without loss to 122 for 4. Kishan made one, Tilak six, per the Indian Express and the Times of India.

Captain Shreyas Iyer held the innings together with 42 off 28 balls, per the Times of India, and his 43-run stand with Dhir off 23 balls dragged India back into it. Axar Patel contributed 24 off 14. Iyer fell in the 19th over, but Dhir was just getting going.

Dhir's closing blitz

Naman Dhir scored an unbeaten 42 off just 15 balls, striking at 280, with five fours and two sixes, Gulf News reported. It was a sensational finishing act — and the numbers back that up. His assault ensured India got home with two deliveries left, ending on 230 for 6.

One of the night's quieter landmarks: Samson's six off Matt Henry was India's 350th six in T20Is this year, the most any team has hit in a calendar year, IANS noted.

Phillips made India work for it

New Zealand's 225 for 4 was built around Glenn Phillips, who smashed an unbeaten 82 off 40 balls with eight fours and three sixes. Finn Allen hit 45 off 24 before Axar Patel removed him, and Bevon Jacobs added 31 off 16 in a 73-run stand with Phillips off 32 balls for the fourth wicket, per Cricket Daily.

India captain Shreyas Iyer had won the toss and chosen to bowl first against Mitchell Santner's New Zealand, the Indian Express reported. The bowlers paid for it — Cricket Daily noted all five of India's bowlers went for at least ten runs an over. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, playing his first international in nearly four years, finished wicketless for 49, the Indian Express reported.

What this chase means

The 455 runs scored in under 40 overs made it a run-fest in front of a sell-out Christchurch crowd, per IANS. More importantly, India erased their previous best T20I chase — the 209s against Australia at Visakhapatnam in 2023 and New Zealand at Raipur earlier this year — off the record books in one night, according to the Times of India.

The second T20I is at Hagley Oval again on Saturday, October 24, starting 8:00 PM local time, which is 12:30 PM IST.