IND vs NZ 3rd T20I: Time, Where to Watch, Playing XI

India play New Zealand in the 3rd T20I at Hnry Stadium, Wellington, on Tuesday, 27 October, at 12:30 PM IST. The match is live on Sony Sports Network (Ten 1 in English, Ten 3 in Hindi) and streams on SonyLIV. India lead the five-match series 2-0, so a win seals it with two games to spare.

Both games so far have gone to the last over, and India have won both by four wickets. They chased a record 226 in the first T20I and came back from 70 for 5 to chase 181 in the second. New Zealand now have to win without two of their main fast bowlers.

IND vs NZ 3rd T20I: date, time and venue

• Date: Tuesday, 27 October 2026
• Venue: Hnry Stadium (formerly Sky Stadium), Wellington
• Start time: 12:30 PM IST (8 PM in Wellington). The toss is at 12 noon IST.
• Series: 3rd of 5 T20Is. India lead 2-0. The 4th T20I is at Eden Park, Auckland, on Friday, 30 October.

Where to watch IND vs NZ 3rd T20I live in India

The match is on the Sony Sports Network and streams on the SonyLIV app and website.

• English: Sony Sports Ten 1 and Sony Sports Ten 1 HD (Tata Play 470 HD, Airtel 285 and 286 HD)
• Hindi: Sony Sports Ten 3 and Sony Sports Ten 3 HD (Tata Play 475 HD, Airtel 289 and 290 HD)
• Also on Sony Sports Ten 5 and Ten 5 HD (Tata Play 483 HD, Airtel 291 and 292 HD)
• Streaming: SonyLIV (subscription)

TryBall's match page has the toss, both playing XIs, the live score and ball-by-ball commentary.

Team news: New Zealand lose Henry and Ferguson

Matt Henry will miss the rest of the T20I series. New Zealand are managing his workload before the ODIs and Tests, and he bowled only two overs on Saturday. Lockie Ferguson, who left the field during the second T20I, sits out Wellington as a precaution. Kyle Jamieson is set to play before he goes back to domestic cricket to prepare for the Tests, and Adam Milne and Blair Tickner are available.

On paper that is a big loss. In our scorecards it is a smaller one than it sounds. Henry and Ferguson have bowled 70 balls in the series, given away 139 runs and taken one wicket between them. New Zealand's whole pace attack has gone at 11.7 an over (274 runs in 23.2 overs) for four wickets.

For India, Ishan Kishan has still not recovered from the low-grade right adductor strain that kept him out on Saturday. Expect India to keep the side that won in Christchurch, with Vaibhav Sooryavanshi at No. 3.

Three numbers from the first two T20Is

1. Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell have taken 8 of New Zealand's 12 wickets. Their 16 overs of spin have cost 8.25 an over (132 runs). Santner alone has 6 for 60 in eight overs, including 4 for 21 on Saturday. New Zealand's quicks have been hit around; their spinners are the reason both games went down to the wire.

2. India have lost 9 of their 12 wickets between overs 7 and 15. In the first T20I they went from 115 for 1 to 122 for 4 in under two overs. In the second they went from 44 for 1 to 70 for 5. Spin took six of those seven wickets, and both times Nos. 6 to 8 had to finish the job (174 runs off 87 balls across the two games). India's top order has scored freely in the powerplay, 93 for 1 inside six overs in the first game, but the middle overs are where New Zealand can win this match.

3. Glenn Phillips has 152 runs off 83 balls and has been out once. That is 82 not out in the first game and 70 in the second. New Zealand's other top-five batters (Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, Daryl Mitchell and Bevon Jacobs) have 215 runs between them at a strike rate of 146. Getting Phillips early is India's clearest route to a third win.

India: what to watch

The batting order. With Kishan out, India went with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma opening and Vaibhav at No. 3. Vaibhav made 4 off 8 on his first chance of the tour, and Samson has 81 runs in two innings after his 67 in the first game. Shreyas Iyer has 49 runs off 39 balls and was bowled trying to hit Santner over the leg side on Saturday. Someone in the top four has to bat through the middle overs.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar's place. Bhuvneshwar has 1 for 99 in eight overs, at 12.4 an over. Arshdeep Singh (3 for 78) and Prince Yadav (1 for 30 in his first game of the series) have been better. Wellington's wind usually helps the seamers early, which is an argument for keeping a swing bowler, but Mayank Yadav (1 for 40 in the first game) is the like-for-like option if India change.

The finishers. Naman Dhir has 73 runs off 32 balls in the series, a strike rate of 228, and Tilak Varma made 51 not out off 26 to win Saturday's game. India's eight-batter line-up has won both matches. It also means they have only three specialist bowlers, so Axar Patel (1 for 79 in eight overs) and Nitish Kumar Reddy have to bowl their overs.

New Zealand: what to watch

New Zealand need a change at the top. Seifert has 31 runs in the series and Allen 61, and in the second game they were 41 for 3 inside six overs. Devon Conway is in the squad if they want a steadier option.

With Henry and Ferguson out, expect Jamieson and Milne to share the new ball with Jacob Duffy, with Nathan Smith as the fourth seamer. Santner and Bracewell will bowl their eight overs in the middle, because that is where they have hurt India.

IND vs NZ 3rd T20I predicted playing XIs

India (probable): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shreyas Iyer (c), Axar Patel, Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Bhuvneshwar Kumar or Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav

New Zealand (probable): Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Jacob Duffy

Hnry Stadium pitch report and India's record in Wellington

Hnry Stadium is Wellington's main stadium, known as the Cake Tin. It uses a drop-in pitch, and the square boundaries are short, at about 60 metres. Wind is the factor most T20Is here are remembered for: it helps the seamers with the new ball and makes hitting into it hard work.

Scores at the ground are usually lower than in Christchurch. The average first-innings total in men's T20Is is in the 150s and 160s, well below the 225 and 180 New Zealand made in the first two games. The highest total is New Zealand's 219 for 6 against India in 2019, and the highest chase is Australia's 216 for 4 in 2024.

India's T20I record in Wellington is mixed. They lost by 80 runs in 2019, won a tie on a Super Over in 2020, and their 2022 game was washed out without a ball bowled. A par score on Tuesday is probably around 170.

Head-to-head

India have won 21 of their 33 T20Is against New Zealand, lost 11 and tied one, counting this series.

Our prediction

India are favourites. They have won both games from difficult positions, and New Zealand are missing two of their four main quicks. The match is closer than 2-0 suggests, though: if Santner and Bracewell take wickets in the middle overs again and Phillips bats deep, New Zealand can take the series to Auckland. Whoever wins the toss is likely to bowl first.

IND vs NZ 3rd T20I: FAQs

What time does IND vs NZ 3rd T20I start? The first ball is at 12:30 PM IST on Tuesday, 27 October. The toss is at 12 noon IST.

Which channel will show IND vs NZ 3rd T20I? Sony Sports Ten 1 (English) and Sony Sports Ten 3 (Hindi), with live streaming on SonyLIV.

Can India win the series in Wellington? Yes. India lead 2-0, so a win on Tuesday gives them an unbeatable 3-0 lead.

Is Ishan Kishan playing the 3rd T20I? He is not expected to. He has not recovered from a low-grade right adductor strain.

All series numbers in this preview are from TryBall's own scorecards of the first two T20Is.