Tilak, Nitish deliver under pressure as India go 2-0 up

Tilak Varma’s unbeaten 51 off 26 balls and Nitish Kumar Reddy’s late contribution helped India beat New Zealand by four wickets in the second T20I. The victory gave India a 2-0 lead in the five-match series in Christchurch

Christchurch: Tilak Varma delivered another clutch performance to headline India’s come-from-behind victory over New Zealand in the second T20I at Hagley Oval here on Saturday.

With India in trouble at 70/5 after 10.5 overs, Tilak smashed an unbeaten 51 off 26 balls to guide the visitors to a four-wicket win. India chased down New Zealand’s competitive total of 180/5 with one ball to spare.

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Nitish Kumar Reddy also played a crucial hand, remaining unbeaten on 26 off 13 balls and hitting the winning runs off Jacob Duffy in the penultimate ball of the innings. The victory gave India a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

The effort overshadowed the contributions of New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner and Glenn Phillips, who had helped put the hosts in a strong position. Santner returned impressive figures of 4/21 as the surface offered considerable assistance to the spinners. The pacers also benefited from the slow conditions, which made scoring difficult on the used pitch. In the series opener, India had chased down 226 on the same ground.

Earlier, Phillips scored a crucial 70 off 43 balls, while Bevon Jacobs made 58 off 46 deliveries to take New Zealand to a competitive 180/5.

India began their chase with eight consecutive dot balls as Matt Henry bowled a maiden first over to Sanju Samson, beating the batter’s bat three times. The visitors got off the mark on the ninth ball when Abhishek Sharma miscued a shot off Duffy towards deep point.

Abhishek could have been dismissed for one had Duffy not overstepped in the second over. The Indian opener was caught by Nathan Smith at deep square leg, but the umpire called a no-ball.

Abhishek struck a four off the next delivery, helping India reach 37/0 after four overs despite the maiden opening over.

However, the bowling-friendly conditions soon came to the fore. Duffy dismissed Samson for 14 with a slower delivery, with the batter caught at cover. Returning batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi failed to make an impact, falling for four off eight balls to Nathan Smith after Daryl Mitchell took a sharp catch at cover.

Santner then removed Abhishek in his first over, as the batter failed to clear deep mid-wicket. The New Zealand captain tightened the screws further by dismissing Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel in the same over, leaving India in deep trouble at 71/5 after 11 overs.

Naman Dhir offered resistance and gave India hope despite being dropped by Bevon Jacobs at point. The all-rounder scored 31 off 17 balls and took on Michael Bracewell in the 14th over, hitting him for a six and a four.

Santner, however, dismissed Dhir in his final over to complete a four-wicket haul, leaving India with more work to do. Nitish joined Tilak in the middle, and the pair kept the chase alive.

With 46 runs needed off 18 balls, the duo took 17 runs off Duffy’s third over. Tilak struck consecutive fours at the start of the 18th over, with a misfield by Glenn Phillips at deep mid-wicket adding to New Zealand’s problems.

Tilak then produced a crucial pulled four and a six to bring the equation down to 11 runs off the final six balls.

Duffy returned for the final over, with New Zealand having to keep an additional fielder inside the 30-yard circle because of a slow over rate. Tilak drilled the second ball through cover for four and completed his half-century with a couple off the next delivery.

Tilak appeared disappointed when Nitish did not attempt a tight second run, but the latter finished the job with a double towards deep backward square leg off the penultimate ball.

Earlier, Phillips and Jacobs had struck impressive half-centuries to lift New Zealand after an early collapse.

With the hosts struggling at 41/3 after 5.2 overs, Phillips (70 off 43 balls) and Jacobs (58 off 46 balls) added 116 runs for the fourth wicket to revive the innings.

Although the match was played on the same pitch as the high-scoring series opener, the surface offered more assistance to the bowlers this time. New Zealand batters found it difficult to score against hard lengths, while India’s bowlers performed well in the powerplay and at the death.

Arshdeep Singh claimed two wickets, but New Zealand still managed a competitive total of 180/5. It ultimately proved insufficient as India completed the chase to take a 2-0 lead.

Brief scores: New Zealand 180/5 in 20 overs (Glenn Phillips 70, Bevon Jacobs 58; Arshdeep Singh 2/33, Prince Yadav 1/30) lost to India 184/6 (Tilak Varma 51 not out, Naman Dhir 31, Nitish Kumar Reddy 26 not out; Mitchell Santner 4/21, Nathan Smith 1/34) by four wickets.