NEW DELHI: Ishan Kishan’s maiden T20I hundred made up for another familiar failure from Sanju Samson, and combined with Arshdeep Singh’s five-wicket haul, it powered India to a 46-run win over New Zealand in the fifth and final match on Saturday.

India sealed the series 4-1 and wrapped up their preparations for defending the T20 World Cup title on a highly positive note.

Once India piled up a massive 271 for five, driven by Kishan’s 103 off 43 balls and skipper Suryakumar Yadav’s 63 off 30 deliveries, only the margin of victory remained in question.

New Zealand fought in patches but eventually folded for 225. For India, Arshdeep regrouped impressively after a tough start to return with a superb five-wicket haul of 5 for 51.

He had leaked 40 runs in his first two overs while dismissing Tim Seifert, but bounced back strongly to pick up four wickets in the next three overs while conceding just 11 runs.

Finn Allen (80 off 38 balls) played a powerful innings at the top, though the chase was always slipping out of New Zealand’s reach.

The right-hander, fresh off a strong Big Bash League, carried that form into the Greenfield Stadium contest.

Allen tore into Arshdeep early, collecting two fours and a six in the opening over of the chase.

He then went even harder in the pacer’s second over, smashing 4, 4, 6, 4, 4 to collect 23 runs.

Allen brought up his sixth T20I fifty off just 22 balls before falling to the returning left-arm spinner Axar Patel (3 for 33), ending a 100-run second-wicket stand with Rachin Ravindra (30 off 17).

In fact, both spinners Axar and Varun Chakravarthy (1 for 36) did a commendable job in tightening the screws after the power play.

Once Allen departed, New Zealand’s chase lost momentum completely with wickets falling at regular intervals.

Samson fails again

But none entertained the packed stadium more than Kishan on a humid evening. He walked in after the early exits of Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma.

Opener Samson (6), whose fifth straight failure in the series has now cast a big shadow over his T20 World Cup prospects, once again failed to get going and fell to pacer Lockie Ferguson.

If that was not ominous enough, Kishan later kept wickets as well, offering a glimpse into the team management’s thinking ahead of the ICC event starting next week.

Abhishek (30 off 16 balls) provided a brisk start but extra pace from Ferguson did him in as India went through a relatively quiet power play at 54 for two.

Those, however, were the only moments of relief for New Zealand after India opted to bat first.

What followed was a relentless assault from Kishan and Suryakumar, who added 137 runs for the third wicket in a little over 10 overs.

Kishan, who missed the fourth T20I due to an unspecified injury, showed no signs of rust as he took the bowlers apart with quick hands and sharp footwork.

The left-hander kick-started his onslaught by taking Ferguson for a four and a six in an extra over and never really slowed down thereafter.

Kishan reached his half-century off 28 balls with a four off Ish Sodhi, while Suryakumar completed his 3000 T20I runs in two fewer balls with a six off Jacob Duffy.

Kishan, who also crossed 1000 T20I runs, went particularly hard at Sodhi, smashing 29 runs in the 12th over with a sequence that read 4, 4, 4, 6, 4, 6.

Suryakumar fell in between, stumped by Tim Seifert while charging down the track against left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner.

That dismissal did little to slow Kishan.

The Jharkhand batter soon brought up his maiden T20I hundred in just 42 balls. A six off Santner took him to 97 and the next maximum carried him to the landmark, which he celebrated exuberantly before sharing a warm hug with Hardik Pandya.

Kishan’s second fifty came off a mere 14 balls.

From a team perspective, India smashed 189 runs in the last 11 overs at a run rate of 17.18 per over.

The Kishan show finally ended when Glenn Phillips caught him at square leg off Duffy, as the crowd rose in applause.

Pandya’s late flourish of 42 off 17 balls ensured India crossed the 250-run mark for the fourth time in their T20I history.

(With PTI Inputs)