Kishan clobbered 10 sixes in an incendiary 103 off 43 balls to anchor India’s imposing 271 for five at the Greenfield International Stadium.
Black Caps opener Finn Allen hammered six sixes in a 38-ball 80 to give the chase early momentum but they were bowled out for 225 with two balls left in the innings
after India seamer Arshdeep Singh took a career-best five for 51.
Earlier, Kishan, who missed the previous game in Visakhapatnam with a niggle, returned at No 3 and tore into the attack from the outset.
Ish Sodhi bore the brunt in the 12th over, when Kishan lashed four fours and two sixes in a seven-ball over that cost 29 runs.
After playing second fiddle to Kishan for much of their rapid 137-run stand off 58 balls, India captain Suryakumar Yadav (63) exhibited his own power-hitting prowess by smashing three sixes in a Jacob Duffy over.
Kishan brought up his 100 with a six before Duffy deceived him with a slow bouncer, and Hardik Pandya smacked four sixes in his 42 off 17 balls down the order.
New Zealand lost opener Tim Seifert cheaply but Allen and Rachin Ravindra (30) kept them in the hunt with a century stand before their chase was derailed.
After spinner Axar Patel (three for 33) removed Allen and Glenn Phillips, seamer Arshdeep demolished the New Zealand middle order to claim his maiden five-wicket haul in T20 internationals.
Black Caps captain Mitchell Santner had a hint of a
smile when asked what the tourists could have done to stopped the relentless Indian batters.
"Maybe push the ropes back a little bit for the bowlers," Santner said.
While the series was lost, the Black Caps gained valuable preparation for the T20 World Cup, he said.
"We look at the series as a whole — we learnt a lot of good stuff.
"They’re tough to beat in their conditions.
"It’s not easy as a bowling unit. We’ve got to find ways against very good batters."
New Zealand’s first game at the T20 World Cup is against Afghanistan on Sunday.
INDIA
A Sharma b Ferguson 30 (16)
S Samson c Jacobs b Ferguson 6 (6)
I Kishan c Phillips b Duffy 103 (43)
S Yadav st Seifert b Santner 63 (30)
H Pandya c Jacobs b Jamieson 42 (17)
R Singh not out 8 (8)
S Dube not out 7 (2)
Extras (2nb, 10w) 12
Total (for 5wkts, 20 overs) 271
Fall: 1-31, 2-48, 3-185, 4-233, 5-261.
Bowling: J Duffy 4-0-53-1 (1w), K Jamieson 4-0-59-1 (4w, 1nb), L Ferguson 4-0-41-2 (1nb), I Sodhi 3-0-48-0 (1w), G Phillips 1-0-10-0, M Santner 4-0-60-1.
NEW ZEALAND
T Seifert c Pandya b A Singh 5 (3)
F Allen c Singh b Patel 80 (38)
R Ravindra c Patel b Singh 30 (17)
G Phillips Singh b Patel 7 (6)
D Mitchell b A Singh 26 (12)
M Santner c Yadav b A Singh 0 (2)
B Jacobs b Varun 7 (11)
K Jamieson b A Singh 9 (5)
I Sodhi c A Singh b R Singh 33 (15)
L Ferguson b Patel 3 (4)
J Duffy not out 9 (5)
Extras (8b, 4lb, 4w) 16
Total (all out, 19.4 overs) 225
Fall: 1-17, 2-117, 3-131, 4-137, 5-137, 6-166, 7-179, 8-180, 9-191, 10-225.
Bowling: A Singh 4-0-51-5 (1w), H Pandya 2-0-15-0, J Bumrah 4-0-58-0 (1w), V Chakravarthy 4-0-36-1, A Patel 4-0-33-3, A Sharma 1-0-13-0, R Singh 0.4-0-7-1.
Result: India won by 46 runs.
— Reuters/Allied Media
