Match

India won by 4 wkts

• New Zealand: 180/5 (20 overs)
• India: 181/6 (19.5 overs)

New Zealand - 180/5 (20 overs)

Extras: 9

India - 181/6 (19.5 overs)

Extras: 10

Commentary

• Under pressure with the odds against you, if there's one man you want in the middle it's Tilak Varma. Remarkable ability from the Hyderabad boy to deliver in crunch situations time and again, and today he just sneaked one out of the jaws of defeat for India. New Zealand will wonder what they have to do to get over the line against a team that just seems to have the wood over them. Next up we move from Christchurch to Wellington for the third T20I. Will see you there for all the action. For now, it's a goodbye from Sagar Chawla on behalf of Siva, Pradeep Krishnamurthy and Raju Peethala.
• Shreyas Iyer 2/2: [On India's fielding effort and the importance of preventing the opposition from taking twos] I think that was the message passed on to each and every player in the team, that you got to anticipate every ball that is coming to you, and just believe that you’re going to give singles, and just see to it that you’re running into the ball so that, you know, the opponents, they think twice about running twos. [On India's next destination and the team's progress in the series] Thank you so much. Job is still half done.
• Shreyas Iyer | India captain: [On India's win under pressure and the team's ability to produce match-winners] Yes, absolutely. I feel that every individual in our game is a match winner, and today we saw the example of that. Like, honestly speaking, when we lost wickets, consecutive wickets especially, we thought that the game was going away from us. But Tilak and Reddy, they showed immense character, and also a great cameo by Naman Dhir. [On Naman Dhir's contribution and his all-round abilities] We saw him in a couple of games back home against West Indies. He’s a phenomenal bowler as well, and once you get both the parts covered in terms of batting and bowling, I think he brings in a lot of character, and also when you see him move around in the field, he basically, he’s a comprehensive player. [On the challenge posed by New Zealand's spinners Mitchell Santner and Michael Bracewell and India's approach during the chase] I think we played a lot of dot balls initially, and that basically piled up the run rate as well, and also when we went in, we wanted to actually cruise, but they bowled amazing, especially Bracewell and Santner, the way they controlled the game in the middle. It wasn’t easy to strike the ball, but I think if we would have picked up the gaps and tried to find boundaries, we could have easily cruised. But unfortunate. You know, it happens. Just another day, and I’m sure that we’ll bounce back pretty strong.
• Santner 2/2: [On the batting effort and the partnerships between Bevon Jacobs and Glenn Phillips after losing early wickets] Obviously GP’s done it for a long time now, and I think even Bev, they played the situation beautifully. We lost three early and then they kind of built. I think we were only 60-odd after 10, but then I think it’s one of those surfaces where if you give yourself a chance, give yourself some balls, you can kind of cash in with the power of those two. I thought they played very well. And then, I mean, I blocked a couple of them, but Beast (Bracewell), you know, even 10 off two there to get us up to 180. [On Matt Henry being off the field and the possibility of injuries or rotation during the series] I think it’s precautionary, and I think Lockie went off as well. So hopefully those guys scrub up okay. But I think with the quick turnarounds throughout the series and in the one-days, there could be a bit of rotation. I think that’s just what it’s going to have to be.
• Mitchell Santner | New Zealand Captain: [On another close defeat and the fine margins against a strong opposition] I mean, you play a very good team. It’s always going to be like that, I think. Tilak and Naman and then obviously Reddy at the end, really played pretty well. I think if we got one more wicket there, it was kind of game over. So the way they controlled that chase and, I guess, made us make some errors at the end. [On the impact of the spinners and whether he considered other bowling options, including Glenn Phillips] There’s plenty going through my mind. I think obviously the way the guys started with the ball, outstanding, I think. A score like 180, if they get off to a flyer with the power play, it’s pretty tough from there. So I thought we did pretty well to claw them back, and then obviously through the middle, Beast (Bracewell) is bowling extremely well, and it was nice to get a few poles. I think, you know, a couple of no-balls, obviously no-ball wicket and stuff like that along the way, that obviously hurts you. And I think that from a skills point of view, it’s been very good the last two games. It’s just kind of those little moments where whether it’s in the field or kind of those little sloppy stuff that’s going to hurt us a little bit.
• Stats by Roshan GedeHighest stands for 7th wicket or lower in successful T20I chases (FM teams)82 - Afif Hossain & Mosaddek Hossain (BAN) vs ZIM, Mirpur, 201969* - Chamika Karunaratne & Dasun Shanaka (SL) vs AUS, Pallekele, 202269* - Tilak Varma & Nitish Kumar Reddy (IND) vs NZ, Christchurch, 202664* - Wayne Parnell & Rusty Theron (SA) vs AUS, Johannesburg, 201159* - Yusuf Pathan & Irfan Pathan (IND) vs SL, Colombo (RPS), 2009Tilak Varma in Overs 16-20 in T20s in 2026Runs: 470Balls: 203Dismissals: 10SR: 231.52Bnd %: 33.994s/6s: 32/37Of the 105 batters to have faced at least 75 balls in this phase this year (where data available), Tilak has the highest strike-rate.India’s chaseOvers 1-6: 44/1, RR: 7.33Overs 7-15: 69/5, RR: 7.66Overs 16-19.5: 68/0, RR: 14.06NZ bowling todayPace: 2/123 in 11.5 overs, ER: 10.39Spin: 4/56 in 8 overs, ER: 7NZ’s bowling in the series so farPace: 4/277 in 23.3 overs, ER: 11.78, Avg: 69.25Spin: 8/132 in 16 overs, ER: 8.25, Avg: 16.5Highest successful chases after being 5 down ≤ 70 in T20Is204 from 53/5 - PNG vs Singapore, 2022181 from 70/5 - IND vs NZ, Christchurch, 2026174 from 40/5 - SL vs AUS, Geelong, 2017173 from 40/5 - PAK vs SL, Colombo RPS, 2015172 from 65/5 - Romania vs Austria, Iflov County, 2025
• Tilak Varma | Player of the Match - (What was the mindset after losing 5 wickets) No, at that stage I was just thinking about playing till the end. Just before today’s game, I was talking with coach Gautam sir and Sitanshu Kotak Sir. I was talking with both of them, and they said one thing that we all believe, and the whole India believes in you. If you stay till the end, then you will win the game for us. So that’s what was going through my mind. I wanted to take the game as deep as possible, and at the end of the day, again, what everyone has believed and have done. So I’m really proud of myself. (On the partnership with Naman Dhir) I was telling Naman that we’ll stay till the end, and especially the wicket was slightly slower today, compared to the last game. So I was telling Naman that we’ll push hard in running between the wickets when spinners were bowling. So that’s what our plan was, and we pushed hard when they were bowling, and unfortunately Naman got out in the last over of Mitchell Santner. Otherwise, I think we would have finished the game in 19th over, sorry, 18th over. So credit goes to Naman as well, the way he batted, but after that, you know, the Hyderabadi boys are in play today, Nitish Reddy and myself, and we are really happy that we finished the game. (On batting out the spinners) Definitely there was a plan like that, but we thought that we’ll put that intent when they bowl in our arc. We’ll go. Otherwise, we want to just push it in the gaps and we want to run hard. And we have done that. I think, I think four to five two runs we have got in spinners. So they were really crucial, those eight to ten runs. So I think we played smartly there, and later on we know that we can hit sixes against the fast bowlers. We needed that pace in this huge ground. So we were waiting for that, and we finished off in style.
• Henry went off the field midway during that innings with some issue and couldn't complete his quota. Ferguson wasn't on the field for the last couple of overs either.
• 23:44 Local Time, 10:44 GMT, 16:14 IST: New Zealand will wonder how that slipped away. After Santner got rid of Naman Dhir, the game seemed to be in their bag. India needed close to 70 in the last five overs at that stage with just four wickets in hand, and none of their batters looked like getting a hold of the pitch, except Dhir. Conditions were different in comparison to the first game with the ball not coming on as well. There wasn't much dew on the outfield either. But as Tilak Varma has already done a number of times in his young career so far, he came clutch under pressure and turned it on in some style. He took the attack to Duffy and Smith who crumbled at the death, not getting their execution right and all the hard work done by Santner, who was brilliant for his 4/21, came undone. It just looks like this Indian team has got the wood over the Kiwis with the kind of record they've built up against them in the recent past. The belief is there, even to come back from losing positions and get over the line. Stay tuned, we'll have the presentations shortly..
• 19.5: Jacob Duffy to Nitish Reddy, 2 runs, remarkable turnaround here in Christchurch as India go 2-0 up in the series! Tilak Varma and Nitish Reddy the heroes for the visitors as they come back from nowhere to seal the win. Full toss on the pads, it's flicked away into the gap and they get back for two as the crowd erupts
• 19.5: Jacob Duffy to Nitish Reddy, wide, another bumper, goes past the attempted ramp, beating Reddy for pace but hang on ... the striker's end umpire feels it's too high. She spreads her arms to signal a wide. 2 needed off 2 - Duffy shakes his head as he walks back. Reddy was immediately asking for a wide and was searching to see where the umpire was. He looked at square leg but the ump was at point, giving the decision in his favour
• 19.4: Jacob Duffy to Tilak Varma, 1 run, again he goes short outside off, Tilak doesn't get hold of it, cuts it in the air but it lands short of sweeper cover. Over to Reddy
• 19.3: Jacob Duffy to Tilak Varma, 2 runs, banged in short outside off, rushes Tilak on the pull and he mistimes it down to long-on. He was taking it a little easy on the second run, thinking the throw won't come to his end but then turned around and realised he had to put in the dive to make it back. Fifty up for him, job not done though
• 19.2: Jacob Duffy to Tilak Varma, FOUR, full and wide, misses with his execution and Tilak absolutely blasts it away through extra cover. Might've been going for the wide yorker but ended up offering it right in the slot
• Santner, Duffy and Mitchell having a chat about the field. Square leg comes in the ring, mid-off is in, so is third man
• 19.1: Jacob Duffy to Nitish Reddy, 1 run, banged in short, Reddy pulls hard but it goes straight to deep midwicket on the bounce
• Last over, 11 to get for India, and New Zealand have been penalised for their slow over-rate. Need an extra fielder in the ring
• 18.6: Nathan Smith to Tilak Varma, SIX, the Indian players are on their feet in the dugout! They know all about what Tilak Varma can do and are watching another fine display from the left-hander here. Nerves of steel this guy. Slower length ball angled away wide of off, he hangs back, reaches out and slaps it over wide long-off for a remarkable six
• 18.5: Nathan Smith to Tilak Varma, no run, comes charging down the pitch but ends up getting yorked by Smith who slants it away and beats him on the way to the keeper
• 18.4: Nathan Smith to Tilak Varma, FOUR, short ball, Tilak swivels across, pulls it behind square and there's no one in the deep to cut it off. What a turnaround this is - just 17 needed now off 8 balls. Slipping away from New Zealand at the death