Late Tilak and Nitish blitz lifts India past New Zealand in second T20

India beat New Zealand by four wickets with a ball to spare in the second T20 at Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday, taking a 2-0 lead in the five match series. Tilak Varma’s unbeaten 51 off 26 balls proved decisive.

Chasing 181, India were 70-5 in the 11th over and 112-6 soon after, needing 69 from 31 balls. Tilak and Nitish Kumar Reddy then added an unbeaten 69 from 30 balls to complete a remarkable recovery from a position that looked beyond them.

Tilak, who struck four boundaries in Nathan Smith’s penultimate over, had planned to see off New Zealand’s accurate spinners before attacking the seamers at the death. Reddy finished the job with an unbeaten 26 off 13, including a six and a four.

Tilak said he never felt overwhelmed as the required run rate climbed.

“It was going through my mind, that I wanted to take the game as deep as possible and I have done it, so I’m really proud of myself.”

New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner reflected on what might have been.

“I think if we got one more wicket there, it was really game over.”

“The way they controlled that chase, they made us make some errors at the end.”

Santner had given the hosts hope with 4-21 through the middle overs, removing Abhishek Sharma for 27 in his first over and Naman Dhir for 31 in his fourth, leaving India 112-6 as the top order failed to repeat its aggression from game one.

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, the 15 year old called in for injured Ishan Kishan, was dismissed for four as India’s top order stumbled. Arshdeep Singh, who took 2-33 from four overs, was India’s best bowler, though New Zealand still reached a competitive total.

Glenn Phillips hit his second successive half century, 70 off 43 balls with four sixes and four fours. He added 116 for the fourth wicket with Bevon Jacobs, who made 58 off 46, lifting New Zealand from 41-3 to 180-5.

India, the T20 world champions, also won the opening match at Hagley Oval two days earlier by four wickets, chasing 225 with two balls to spare, their highest successful T20I chase. The third match is in Wellington on Tuesday, October 27.