India beat New Zealand by four wickets in the second T20I at Christchurch on Saturday, October 24, chasing down 181 off the penultimate ball to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Tilak Varma made 51 not out off 26 balls and Nitish Kumar Reddy 26 not out off 13 in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 69.
That partnership is now India’s highest for the seventh wicket in men’s T20Is, beating the 63 put on by Dinesh Karthik and Krunal Pandya against New Zealand in 2019, according to the ICC.
New Zealand, asked to bat first, were 41 for 3 at the end of the powerplay after Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Prince Yadav struck. Glenn Phillips, who made an unbeaten 82 in the series opener, hit 70 off 43 balls and added 116 with Bevon Jacobs, who made 58 off 46. Michael Bracewell hit a four and a six off the only two balls he faced as the hosts finished on 180 for 5.
Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma put on 40 for the first wicket, but India slipped to 70 for 5 in the 11th over. Mitchell Santner removed Abhishek, Axar Patel and captain Shreyas Iyer. Naman Dhir hit 31 off 17 balls to revive the chase before Santner dismissed him too.
Tilak, who came in at No. 6, started cautiously before picking up the pace, with Nitish keeping up with the asking rate at the other end. India needed 11 off the final over with both set batters in, and got there with a ball to spare.
“My coaches told me before the game that entire India believes in me and if I stay till the end, we shall win, and I stayed till the end and I am proud I did it,” Tilak said after the match.
He was named Player of the Match. “Tilak 𝐂𝐋𝐔𝐓𝐂𝐇 Varma 🫡 The #TeamIndia Vice-Captain walks away with a well-deserved POTM award 👏,” the BCCI posted on X.
View @BCCI’s post on X
India also won the first match, at the same ground on October 22, by four wickets. The series moves to Wellington for the third T20I on October 27, followed by Auckland on October 30 and Hamilton on November 1.
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