Suryakumar Yadav's Record Sixth T20I Series Award Powers India to 4-1 Win

Yadav is just behind his compatriot Virat Kohli, who has the most POTS awards (seven). He has joined Sri Lankan all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga in the list, who also has six award wins in the shortest format.

Following India's win over New Zealand in the fifth T20I, Yadav, who became the third Indian to complete 3,000 T20I runs, spoke on dealing with his lean patch of 23 innings before his half-century in the second match, saying that while the "sky was not blue for a year, he knew his time would come".

In the biggest development before the T20 World Cup starting in February, Indian skipper Surya shook off a 23-inning slump, registering three fifties in the series and becoming the 'Player of the Series' in this final assignment before the marquee tournament with 242 runs at an average of 80.66, with a strike rate of above 196 and three fifties. Surya, the leader, also continued to shine bright as India headed into the WC without dropping a single series.

Speaking during the post-match presentation, Suryakumar said, "It has been a long year and a long wait for moments like this. I have always dreamed about when this time would come. I just kept doing the same things I had been doing over the last year and stuck to my routines. I knew I was not out of form, just out of runs. It has been a very good series, and going into the World Cup feeling like this is really special."

In the match, India won the toss and chose to bat first. While Sanju fell to a single-digit score, Abhishek Sharma (30 in 16 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) also fell, leaving India at 48/2. A 137-run stand between Ishan Kishan (103 in 43 balls, with six fours and 10 sixes) and skipper Suryakumar Yadav (63 in 30 balls, with four boundaries and six sixes) enthralled the audience. Later on, a cameo from Hardik Pandya (42 in 17 balls, with a four and four sixes) took India to 271/5 in 20 overs.

Lockie Ferguson (2/41) was the pick of the bowlers for New Zealand, while Jacob Duffy (1/53), Kyle Jamieson (1/59) and Mitchell Santner (1/60) leaked runs.

In the run-chase, after the Kiwis lost Tim Seifert early, a century stand between Allen (80 in 38 balls, with eight fours and six sixes) and Rachin Ravindra (30 in 17 balls, with two fours and two sixes) threatened to make India sweat. However, Arshdeep Singh (5/51) and Axar Patel (3/33) ripped apart the Kiwi middle-order, and they were skittled out for 225 runs after being 191/9 at one point.

- ANI