Henry’s Six-Wicket Blitz Powers New Zealand to 244-Run Rout of India

New Zealand produced one of the great one-day performances in their history at Bay Oval on Friday, bowling India out for just 89 to complete a crushing 244-run victory in the fourth ODI at Mount Maunganui and keep the five-match series alive.

Matt Henry led the destruction with a career-best six wickets for 27 runs, removing Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer in a triple-wicket maiden in the very first over of the chase. Earlier, Will Young had struck a career-best 125 to lift the home side to 333, a total India never came close to threatening.

FAKTA

• Result: New Zealand 333 all out (50 overs) beat India 89 all out (26.4 overs) by 244 runs
• Match: Fourth ODI, Bay Oval, Mount Maunganui, Friday 13 November 2026
• Will Young: 125 off 108 balls — a career-best and his fifth ODI hundred
• Matt Henry: 6 for 27 — a career-best, and Player of the Match
• Record: India’s second-heaviest defeat by runs in ODI history
• Series: India lead 2-1; the final ODI is on Sunday 15 November at Bay Oval

How New Zealand beat India by 244 runs

The match was effectively decided inside the first six balls of India’s reply. Chasing 334, the visitors lost their three most experienced batsmen without a run on the board as Henry produced a devastating opening over.

Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer all fell in that first over, and India never recovered. Henry kept coming back for more, finishing with figures of six for 27 from 9.4 overs, while Matthew Fisher took three for 31 at the other end.

Ishan Kishan top-scored for India with 27, and only Axar Patel, with 21, offered any resistance alongside him. India were bowled out in 26.4 overs, their innings lasting barely half of the allotted overs.

Young’s career-best century sets the platform

New Zealand’s total had been built on Young’s superb 125 from 108 balls, an innings of 14 fours and four sixes that carried the home side to 333 after India had won the toss and chosen to bowl.

Young was given two early lives, dropped twice on five, and made India pay in full. He reached his hundred off 88 balls and was eventually out for his career-best score on the final ball of the 37th over, by which time New Zealand were 256 for four.

Tim Seifert added a brisk 58 from 48 balls and Finn Allen 41, while Mitchell Santner, Kristian Clarke and Kyle Jamieson all chipped in late to push the total beyond 330. Axar Patel was India’s most economical bowler with two for 39.

India’s second-heaviest ODI defeat

The 244-run margin is now India’s second-heaviest defeat by runs in one-day international cricket, and New Zealand’s second-biggest ODI win by runs. It was a complete performance from the home side in every department — with the bat, with the ball and in the field, where Young’s two early let-offs proved the only blemishes.

The result also blows the series wide open. India still lead 2-1, but the fifth and final ODI at the same ground on Sunday is now a genuine contest rather than a dead rubber. New Zealand will take enormous confidence from Friday’s performance; India will need a rapid response after one of their worst days in the format.

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