India’s Arshdeep Singh is now the third-highest wicket-taker among fast bowlers in T20I cricket after claiming his 149th scalp in third T20I vs New Zealand at Wellington on Tuesday.
Published: October 27, 2026, 1:51 PM IST
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Arshdeep Singh (centre) celebrates after dismissing Tim Seifert in 3rd T20I match in Wellington on Tuesday(Source: X)
IND vs NZ 2026 3rd T20: Team India got off to a brilliant start after their captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and elected to bowl first in the third T20I match vs New Zealand at the Hnry Stadium in Wellington on TuesdayIndia’s leading T20I wicket-taker Arshdeep Singh struck in his opening over – the second one of New Zealand innings – to once send back New Zealand opener Tim Seifert early.
Just like his dismissal in the second T20I match at Christchurch last week, Seifert once again tried to hit Arshdeep across the line only to sky the ball high with Axar Patel taking a well-judged catch at pointSeifert was dismissed for 2 off 6 balls as Mitchell Santner’s side lost the first wicket for 4 in the second over.
Arshdeep is now only one short of 150 wickets in T20I cricket for Team IndiaThe Punjab Kings pacer became the third-highest wicket-taker among fast bowlers in T20I cricket, surpassing Rizwan Butt of Bahrain – who has 148 wickets.
WATCH Arshdeep Singh dismiss Tim Seifert in 3rd T20I match HERE…
Arshdeep Singh back at it, delivering an early breakthrough right on cue!
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Among fast bowlers, only Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman with 163 wicket in 130 matches and former New Zealand pacer Tim Southee with 164 scalps in 126 games have picked up more wickets in T20I cricketOverall in T20I cricket, Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan has claimed the most wickets in the format – 197 in 118 games.
But the Black Caps managed to bounce back after the early blow dealt by IndiaBhuvneshwar Kumar, who had bowled an excellent opening over and gave away only 3 runs, then went for 14 runs in his second over.
Opener Finn Allen and No3 batter Daryl Mitchell put on 86 runs for the second wicket in just 7 oversAllen was brutal in his knock of 40 off 25 balls with 5 massive sixes in his innings.
But to the relief of Indian bowlers, the Kolkata Knight Riders opener couldn’t carry on to his fifty as Naman Dhir took an excellent catch off the bowling of Nitish Kumar ReddyThe visitors the picked up the huge wicket of in-form batter Glenn Phillips, who had scored back-to-back fifties in this T20I series.
Phillips, playing in his 100th T20I match, was caught and bowled by left-arm spinner Axar Patel for 17 off 14 balls with 3 fours as the Black Caps lost their third wicket for 123 runs.
Meanwhile, Mitchell bought up his fifty off 26 balls with four fours and four sixesIndia are leading the five-match series 2-0 after the first two games.
