India beat New Zealand by 4 wickets in 2nd T20I as Tilak Varma hits 51*

India beat New Zealand by four wickets with one ball to spare in the second T20 international at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, on Saturday, October 24, 2026, to take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Chasing 181, India were 112 for 6 after 14.5 overs, but Tilak Varma (51 not out) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (26 not out) shared an unbroken stand of 69 from 30 balls to win it in the final over.

Scorecard summary

Result	India won by 4 wickets (1 ball remaining)
Venue	Hagley Oval, Christchurch
Toss	India chose to bowl
New Zealand	180/5 (20 overs) — Glenn Phillips 70 (43), Bevon Jacobs 58 (46), Finn Allen 16
India	181/6 (19.5 overs) — Tilak Varma 51* (26), Naman Dhir 31 (17), Abhishek Sharma 27 (21), Nitish Kumar Reddy 26* (13), Sanju Samson 17 (14)
Best bowling	Mitchell Santner 4/21 (NZ); Arshdeep Singh 2/33 (IND)
Series	India lead 2-0 (five matches)

How the match unfolded

After India won the toss and chose to bowl, their seamers made a sharp start. Arshdeep Singh had Tim Seifert caught for 7, Prince Yadav removed Finn Allen for 16 and Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Daryl Mitchell for 6, leaving New Zealand on 41 for 3 at the end of the powerplay.

Glenn Phillips and Bevon Jacobs then rebuilt with a stand of 116 for the fourth wicket. Phillips hit four fours and four sixes in his 70 before Arshdeep removed him in the 18th over, and Jacobs made 58 from 46 balls before falling to Reddy in the 19th. Michael Bracewell hit a six off his first ball as New Zealand finished on 180 for 5. Prince Yadav conceded only nine runs in the final over and ended with 1 for 30.

India's chase started quickly, with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma reaching 40 in the fifth over, but it then fell apart against spin. Samson, the hero of the first match, was caught for 17, teenager Vaibhav Sooryavanshi went for 4, and Santner removed Abhishek, captain Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel in quick succession. India slid from 56 for 2 to 70 for 5 in just over two overs.

Naman Dhir hit three sixes in a 17-ball 31 to keep India alive, but when Santner had him out India were 112 for 6, needing 69 from 31 balls. Tilak and Reddy took 17 off Jacob Duffy's 18th over, and Tilak's six in the 19th left India needing 11 from the last over. Tilak reached his fifty from 26 balls, a wide from Duffy helped, and Reddy ran two to finish the game with a ball left.

Background

India also won the first match in Christchurch on Thursday, chasing a huge 226 with two balls to spare as Samson hit 67. That game and this one were both decided in the final over, showing how close the two sides are despite the scoreline. The series is part of India's preparation with a young, attacking squad under Iyer's captaincy.

Reactions

New Zealand will be frustrated after losing from a winning position for the second match running, with dropped chances and loose overs at the death costing them. Santner's 4 for 21 was one of the best spells of his T20I career, but his bowlers conceded 69 runs from the last 31 balls of the chase.

For India, Tilak's calm innings underlined his value as a finisher, and Reddy showed again that he can win games with the bat as well as the ball.

Why it matters

A 2-0 lead puts India one win away from securing the series with three matches to play. The results also matter for both teams' T20I rankings and for selectors building squads for next year's major events. For fans in India and across South Asia, the early-morning starts from New Zealand have brought two last-over thrillers.

What happens next

Match	Date	Venue
3rd T20I	Tuesday, October 27	Wellington
4th T20I	Friday, October 30	Auckland
5th T20I	Sunday, November 1	Hamilton

India can wrap up the series with victory in Wellington on Tuesday. New Zealand must win all three remaining games to take the series.