New Zealand will clash with India in the first match of the five-game T20I series at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Thursday, October 22.
New Zealand, captained by Mitchell Santner, levelled their most recent ODI series 1-1 against Bangladesh in May 2026. Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer-led India comes into this series after a 2-2 series draw against the West Indies at home in October 2026.
NZ vs IND, T20I Series 2026, Match 1, Match Details
Match: New Zealand vs India, T20I Series 2026, Match 1
Time & Date: 12:30 PM IST, Thursday, October 22
Venue: Hagley Oval, Christchurch
NZ vs IND, T20I Series 2026, Match 1 Pitch Report
With the average first-innings score across the last three T20Is being 171, we can expect batters to come out all guns blazing. Two out of the last three T20Is saw the teams batting first come out on top.
NZ vs IND, T20I Series 2026, Match 1 Probable XIs
New Zealand
Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (wk), Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Bevon Jacobs, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson
India
Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prince Yadav, Varun Chakravarthy
NZ vs IND, T20I Series 2026, Match 1 Top Picks
Finn Allen
New Zealand explosive opener Finn Allen has been in good form, and he is anticipated to score a lot of runs in this series.
Jacob Duffy
Jacob Duffy is expected to do well on this wicket, picking up wickets in the powerplay and death overs.
NZ vs IND, T20I Series 2026, Match 1 Captain picks
Abhishek Sharma
Dashing Indian opener Abhishek Sharma is expected to come out on top with blazing form on this surface.
Ishan Kishan
India’s No.3 batter Ishan Kishan has been in red-hot form, scoring runs with ease in this particular format.
NZ vs IND, T20I Series 2026, Match 1 Head-to-head Dream11 team
Abhishek Sharma (c), Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Finn Allen (vc), Tim Seifert, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prince Yadav
NZ vs IND, T20I Series 2026, Match 1 Grand League Dream11 team
Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Ishan Kishan (c), Tilak Varma, Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Jacob Duffy (vc), Lockie Ferguson, Kyle Jamieson, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prince Yadav
