Tilak Varma, the vice-captain of the side, stood up when it mattered most as he rescued India from a precarious position to seal the win for India out of nowhere. Tilak Varma was the real star of the night, but before that, Glenn Phillips and Bevon-John Jacobs put on an 116-run stand between them as New Zealand recovered from 43/3 in 6 overs to get to 180/5 in 20 overs. New Zealand had got a good score on the board.
In reply, India lost wickets at regular intervals as they were 70/5 at one stage and then 112/6. Tilak Varma stood up with a stupendous half-century while Nitish Kumar Reddy and Naman Dhir supported him with cameos, while Mitchell Santner, New Zealand’s captain, picked up 4 wickets in vain. India held their nerves and achieved a jail break to win by 4 wickets with one ball to spare to take a 2-0 lead in the 5-match series.
Glenn Phillips’ swashbuckling half-century powered New Zealand to a competitive 180/5 in 20 overs
Put into bat first, Tim Seifert, the keeper-batter, and Finn Allen came out to open the batting for New Zealand. Bhuvneshwar Kumar had the ball in hand for India. The teams were playing on a used surface, and the signs indicated this was not a flat batting pitch. The opening duo could add only 9 runs to the tally before Seifert was the first to depart for 7 off 6 balls with one six to his name, to Arshdeep Singh.
Daryl Mitchell came out to bat next. Mitchell got a boundary away. The duo of Allen and Mitchell added 9 runs for the second wicket before Mitchell fell for 6 off 5 balls with one four to his name to Bhuvneshwar Kumar.
Glenn Phillips came out to bat next. Allen and Phillips tried to forge some sort of a partnership. Allen got a start while Phillips looked good from the start. The duo added 23 runs for the third wicket before Allen fell for 16 off 14 balls with one six to his name to Prince Yadav, who cleaned him up. Bevon-John Jacobs came out to bat next. At the end of the power play, New Zealand were in a spot of bother at 43/3 in 6 overs.
The duo of Jacobs and Mitchell started to rebuild the innings as India bowled tight overs, and New Zealand reached 66/3 in 10 overs at the halfway stage of the game. The duo started to switch gears as a big moment in the game came next. Jacobs was batting on 20*, and the score was 68/3 when he was dropped by captain Iyer at mid-off. This moment came back to haunt India for sure. The duo grew in confidence.
Phillips was the star as Jacobs still struggled for timing. But the duo hung in there under challenging conditions and took advantage of some bad Indian bowling as well. Phillips scored another half-century while Jacobs made India pay for the missed opportunity in the 11th over. These two made sure New Zealand didn’t fall behind in the game. They put on 116 for the 4th wicket before Phillips fell for a magnificent 70 off 43 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Arshdeep Singh.
Captain Mitchell Santner came out to bat next. Jacobs hit a maximum and got to his half-century as the duo added 8 runs to the tally before Jacobs fell for 58 off 46 balls with 5 fours and one six to his name to Nitish Kumar Reddy. Michael Bracewell came out to bat next and hit a six off the first ball to get off the mark. The duo of Santner and Bracewell added 15 runs for the 6th wicket unbeaten, which included a boundary off the last ball of the innings by Bracewell.
New Zealand ended with 180/5 in 20 overs. Santner was unbeaten on 4 off 5 balls while Bracewell was unbeaten on 10 off 2 balls with one four and one six to his name. 9 extras were given by the fielding side as the Kiwis had a great score on the board.
India had a decent day with the ball, one can say. Arshdeep Singh was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/33 in 4 overs. Prince Yadav finished with 1/30 in 4 overs. Nitish Kumar Reddy finished with 1/31 in 3 overs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished with 1/50 in 4 overs. Axar Patel finished with 0/28 in 4 overs. Naman Dhir finished with an over for 7 runs. Kumar was expensive in his spell. This meant India’s target on a used surface was 181 runs to win off 20 overs for a 2-0 lead in the 5-match series.
Tilak Varma’s breath-taking unbeaten half-century takes India over the line in a tense run chase
Chasing 181 on a tricky surface, Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma came out to open the batting for India while Matt Henry had the new ball in hand for New Zealand. Henry bowled a maiden. Thereafter, Abhishek was dismissed by Jacob Duffy when the score was 2 runs. But the bowler overstepped as Abhishek made New Zealand pay a bit. Samson struggled for timing tonight as the opening duo added 40 runs inside 5 overs before Samson fell for 14 off 17 balls with one four and one six to his name to Duffy.
Young sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi came out to bat next. Just 4 runs were added to the score before Vaibhav fell for 4 off 8 balls to Nathan Smith. Captain Shreyas Iyer came out to bat next. The power play score was 44/1 in 6 overs, and the game was evenly matched. The spinners, led by Santner, tightened the screws as India choked a bit. Abhishek and Shreyas added 12 runs to the score before Abhishek fell for 27 off 21 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name. Axar Patel was promoted up the order.
Shreyas and Axar tried to rebuild things and took India to 66/3 in 10 overs, the same score as the Kiwis after 10 overs. Shreyas and Axar added 13 runs to the tally before the captain was cleaned up for 7 off 11 balls by captain Mitchell Santner. Tilak Varma came out to bat next. Just one run was added to the score before Axar fell for 11 off 9 balls with one six to his name to Santner, thanks to a great tag-team work in the boundary by the Daryl Mitchell and Finn Allen combination.
At 70/5, things looked dire for India as Naman Dhir came out to bat next. Naman started well and, batting on 9*, was given a reprieve by Bevon-John Jacobs off Santner. Naman made the Kiwis pay through his exquisite shots. The duo took the score past 100 runs and put on an important 42-run stand for the 6th wicket before Naman fell for 31 off 17 balls with one four and three sixes to his name to Santner yet again. Nitish Kumar Reddy came out to bat next.
India were 112/6 in 14.5 overs, and the game was gone by now. Nitish came and provided the impetus while Tilak joined in as the required rate started climbing. The Kiwis made some errors in the field and no balls as well. Tilak then was in the zone and took over for the back 2-3 overs. India needed 46 off 18 balls, and they expertly hit Duffy to bring it down to 29 off 12 balls. Thereafter, Smith was hit for 18 runs, and the equation boiled down to 11 needed off 6 balls.
Tilak held his nerve and completed his half-century while Nitish hit the winning runs. The duo put on 69 runs off 30 balls unbroken to steal the win from the jaws of defeat. Tilak was unbeaten on 51 off 26 balls with 6 fours and one six to his name, while Nitish remained unbeaten on 26 off 13 balls with one four and one six to his name as India got to the target in 19.5 overs, finishing with 181/6. 10 extras were given by the fielding side as the Men in Blue won with one ball to spare.
New Zealand bowlers tried hard through their spinners, with Mitchell Santner, the captain, leading the way with figures of 4/21 in 4 overs. Nathan Smith finished with 1/34 in 3 overs. Jacob Duffy finished with 1/41 in 3.5 overs. Matt Henry bowled 2 overs for 11 runs and remained off the field, injured. Lockie Ferguson bowled 3 overs for 37 runs. Michael Bracewell finished with 0/35 in 4 overs. Even Lockie was off the field. So, India won this game by 4 wickets with 1 ball to spare. Tilak Varma was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead
So, India are 2-0 up in this 5-match series and will look to seal the series in the third match itself. The third T20I will be held at the Sky Stadium in Wellington on 27th October, 2026 from 12:30 PM IST onwards. Can the hosts do the one-percenters right and stay alive in the series, or will India seal it there? We shall find that out on Tuesday, as we had a thriller at Hagley Oval.
Also Read: NZ vs IND: Glenn Phillips’ Swashbuckling Knock Sets A Challenging Target