Tilak Varma's End-Over Heroics Help India Pull Of Heist Against New Zealand In 2nd T20I At Christchurch

India pulled off a remarkable heist in the second T20I, chasing down 181 with one ball to spare after slipping to 113 for 6 in the 15th over. Tilak Varma’s unbeaten 51 off 26 balls and Nitish Kumar Reddy’s late cameo turned a near-certain defeat into victory.

New Zealand had set a target of 181, but the hosts seemed in control after Mitchell Santner ran through India’s middle order. The captain finished with 4 for 21, becoming the first bowler to take multiple four-wicket hauls against India in T20Is. His drift and flight accounted for Abhishek Sharma (27), Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel and Naman Dhir, whose counterattacking 31 off 17 ended with a mistimed loft to extra cover. Earlier, Jacob Duffy had removed Sanju Samson, and Nathan Smith had dismissed 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for 4.

New Zealand also helped India with sloppy fielding. Bevon Jacobs dropped two catches, blaming the lights for the first, and Glenn Phillips’ misfield in the 18th over cost a boundary.

India needed 68 off the last 30 balls, and Tilak and Reddy took the game away in a few overs. Reddy hit Smith for four and Duffy for six, and the pair ran hard between the wickets. Tilak then took 17 off Smith’s 18th over with two fours and a six, and the 19th went for 18, with the target down to 11 off the last over.

Duffy bowled it after New Zealand were penalised for a slow over-rate, which left them an extra fielder short in the ring. Tilak blasted a wide full ball through extra cover and reached his fifty with a diving second run. A wide bumper to Reddy reduced the equation to two off two, and Reddy took the winning two with a ball to spare.

Earlier, India chose to chase, and New Zealand were soon 41 for 3, with Tim Seifert, Daryl Mitchell and Finn Allen all gone inside the first six overs. Glenn Phillips and Bevon Jacobs then rebuilt, sharing a 116-run partnership that took the hosts to 180. Phillips made 70 off 43 on a slow, used surface before Arshdeep Singh’s wide yorkers accounted for him, and Prince Yadav gave away just one boundary in a superb final over.