Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy guided India to a thrilling last over win against New Zealand to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch on Saturday.
Nitish pushed the ball towards deep square leg to complete the 181-run chase, which looked improbable when India was reduced to 112/6 with just five overs to go.
Tilak hit an unbeaten 51 off 26 balls, finding six fours and a six during his knock to take India over the line. Nitish gave a tremendous support from the other end, striking 26 off 13 balls.
Before the duo punched gloves, Mitchell Santner nearly set up the game for his side with four wickets, including wicket of Naman Dhir who hit 31 off 17 balls before getting caught.
India didn’t start well as Sanju Samson played out a maiden against Matt Henry. Abhishek Sharma made up to the poor start with flurry of boundaries and scored 27 before becoming Santner’s victim.
Samson and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi fell before him, falling for pace.
Santner then removed Axar Patel and Shreyas Iyer in the same over to derail India’s chase but the Naman, Tilak, and Nitish made sure the visiting had another memorable night in Christchurch.
Earlier, India put the host to bat and struck thrice inside PowerPlay, removing Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, and Daryl Mitchell. But Glenn Phillips and Bevon Jacobs revived New Zealand’s innings with an 116-run stand.
Phillips continued where he left the other night and struck another 70 off 43 balls while Jacobs hit 58 off 46. Michael Bracewell later hit a six and a four to get New Zealand to 180/5, but it turned out to be in a losing cause.
Published on Oct 24, 2026
