3 min readUpdated: Oct 24, 2026 04:31 PM ISTTilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy's stand finished unbeaten on 69 in 30 balls. (BCCI Photo)An unbeaten 69-run partnership for the seventh wicket between Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy powered India to a four-wicket win over New Zealand in the second T20I in Christchurch. India had their backs to the wall for much of their chase but Tilak and Reddy stunningly turned it around in the death overs and helped the visitors clinch the thriller. India have now taken a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.Tilak finished unbeaten on 51 off 26 balls while Reddy was on 26 in 13, with the latter hitting the winning runs.Reddy joined Varma in the middle after Naman Dhir, who had done the finishing act for India in the first T20I, fell off the fifth ball of the 15th over. Tilak was player of the match and he said in the post-match presentation ceremony that India could have finished the match in the penultimate over of the match itself had it not been for Dhir’s dismissal with the plan that they had put together.Going into the last five overs of the innings, India’s run rate was 7.53 and their required rate read 13.60. That latter number crept up to 15.33 at the end of the 17th over but Reddy and Tilak creamed 17 runs off the 18th which as bowled by Jacob Duffy, who along with Matt Henry ensured that India got their first runs only eight balls into their innings earlier.This was followed by an 18-run over in the next off Nathan Smith and suddenly, India needed just 11 runs to win off the last over. India got over the line with Reddy clipping the second ball between deep mid wicket and deep backward square leg, allowing the batters to run two.While Henry and Duffy ensured that India struggled to get their runs early on, they missed out on what could’ve been a dream start when the latter got opener Abhishek Sharma caught at deep square leg in the second over, only for the umpire to call it a no ball. Abhishek responded by hitting fours off consecutive balls. He and opening partner Sanju Samson eventually managed to put up a stand of 40 runs before the latter fell to Duffy for 14 off 17 balls in the fifth over.Teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi then walked in at No.3, the first time that he was batting outside the opening slots in his fledgling international career. However, he managed to score just four runs eight balls before being sent back by Nathan Smith. For New Zealand, Mitchell Santner led the way in choking India through the middle overs, returning figures of 4/21.Story continues below this adEarlier, Glenn Phillips fired again for the Kiwis, smashing 70 in 43 balls. Bevon Jacobs scored 58 in 46, with the pair sharing a partnership of 116 off 77 balls.© IE Online Media Services Pvt LtdStay updated with the latest sports news across Cricket, Football, Chess, and more. Catch all the action with real-time live cricket score updates and in-depth coverage of ongoing matches.AdvertisementLoading Recommendations...AdvertisementAdvertisement