Matt Henry broke India's spine inside six deliveries.
Chasing a stiff 334-run target on Friday, the hosts folded for an embarrassing 89 in 26.4 overs. The 244-run hammering stands among India's heaviest defeats in one-day cricket. Yet even amid the wreckage, Virat Kohli walked across the outfield after the final wicket, pulled out an Indian team jersey, and handed it directly to the grinning New Zealand pacer—a touch of genuine grace captured on video by the Blackcaps' official social channels.
Henry had earned every stitch of that fabric.
The contest snapped open in the very first over of the chase.
Henry struck with venom, sending Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and stand-in skipper Shreyas Iyer back to the pavilion without a run between them. Three ducks. Six deliveries. India's top order lay in smoking ruins before spectators had settled into their seats, immediately reviving bitter memories of the 2019 World Cup semifinal in Manchester where Henry had engineered a nearly identical catastrophe.
From there, the hosts never breathed. Ishan Kishan fought for a top-scoring 27, while Axar Patel and Naman Dhir chipped in with 21 runs apiece. But nobody else offered resistance against Henry's relentless line and sharp off-the-seam nip. The Canterbury quick finished with career-best figures of 6 for 27, ruthlessly slicing through the tail.
| Match Metric | New Zealand | India |
|---|---|---|
| Total Score | 333 in 50 overs | 89 all out (26.4 overs) |
| Top Scorer | Will Young (125 off 108) | Ishan Kishan (27) |
| Standout Bowling | Matt Henry (6/27) | Axar, Nabi, Brar (2 wkts each) |
| Margin | Won by 244 runs | Defeated |
Hours earlier, New Zealand had set the contest alight with an aggressive batting display.
Will Young anchored the Blackcaps to 333, smashing a masterly 125 off 108 balls. The right-hander rode his luck after surviving two early reprieves, punishing the Indian attack with 14 boundaries and four towering sixes.
He first stitched together an 85-run opening stand with Tim Seifert, who bludgeoned 58 off 48 balls with six fours and three sixes. When India briefly squeezed the scoring rate following Seifert's dismissal, Young found another running mate in Finn Allen. The pair launched a rapid 90-run counter-attack, with Allen cracking 41 off 30 deliveries.
Late cameos from Mitchell Santner (24), Kristian Clarke (22), and an unbeaten 19 from Kyle Jamieson pushed the tally beyond 300. For India, Axar Patel, Auqib Nabi, and Gurnoor Brar picked up two wickets apiece, but the bowling group bled runs through the final ten overs.
India still hold a 2-1 lead in the five-match series, leaving the fifth and final one-day clash to decide the trophy.