Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy rescue India from 112/6 to seal thrilling 4-wicket win over New Zealand
Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy rescue India from 112/6 to seal thrilling 4-wicket win over New Zealand
Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy produced a remarkable late counterattack as India recovered from a top-order collapse to beat New Zealand by four wickets in the second T20I on Saturday in Christchurch, taking a commanding 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
Chasing 181, India were staring at defeat after slipping to 112 for 6 in the 15th over, with New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner having ripped through the middle order with a four-wicket haul. With nearly 70 runs required in the final five overs and only four wickets remaining, the hosts appeared to have the contest firmly under control. However, Tilak and Nitish turned the game on its head with a composed yet aggressive partnership, guiding India home at 181 for 6 in 19.5 overs.
Santner puts New Zealand in control
New Zealand had done enough to put India under pressure after posting 180 for 5 in their 20 overs. Taking the dew factor into consideration, Shreyas Iyer had no hesitation in opting to bowl after winning the toss.
Even though Tim Seifert slammed the third ball of the contest for a six, he mistimed one in the following over and departed early. Bhuvneshwar Kumar then dismissed Daryl Mitchell, who got a leading edge and was caught at cover. While New Zealand tried to counterpunch, India finished the Powerplay on a high note when Finn Allen missed a scoop and lost his stumps to Prince Yadav, who had replaced Mayank Yadav in the XI. Losing three wickets in the first six overs, the hosts were forced to rebuild, crawling to just 66 at the halfway point.
It was Glenn Phillips who kickstarted New Zealand's recovery, hammering sixes in back-to-back overs before clearing Axar Patel over long-off en route to his half-century. Bevon Jacobs, scoring at only a run-a-ball initially, finally accelerated to go past fifty. New Zealand were reduced to 41 for 3 inside the powerplay before Phillips and Jacobs joined forces to add 116 runs for the fourth wicket, transforming the innings and setting India a challenging target. Phillips struck 70 off 43 balls, including four fours and four sixes, while Jacobs made 56 off 46 deliveries (Cricbuzz reported 58) with five fours and a six.
The century partnership was finally broken by Arshdeep Singh, who dismissed both Phillips and Jacobs, with Jacobs perishing off a full toss. In the two balls he faced, Michael Bracewell cleared the ropes once and then found the boundary to help his team breach 180. Arshdeep led India's bowling effort with 2 for 33, while Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Prince Yadav and Nitish Kumar Reddy picked up a wicket apiece.
India stumble before Tilak takes charge
New Zealand made an encouraging start with the ball when Matt Henry bowled a maiden over first up. India needed a free hit to finally get going as Abhishek Sharma hit a couple of scratchy boundaries. Even though the openers briefly caught up with a flurry of boundaries, New Zealand pulled things back. A back-of-the-hand slower delivery from Jacob Duffy sent Sanju Samson packing, and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi didn't make a mark at No. 3 on his return to the XI despite receiving a reprieve, departing for just 4 off 8.
Santner's introduction made things go from bad to worse for the visitors as the New Zealand skipper ripped through the Indian line-up. Santner first removed Abhishek Sharma, which prompted India to promote Axar Patel up the order. In his next over, he struck twice in the space of three balls to completely put New Zealand on top — Shreyas Iyer was outfoxed and castled, and two balls later Finn Allen and Daryl Mitchell combined near the boundary to get rid of Axar Patel. Naman Dhir was the only one who appeared to be batting on a different surface as he dealt in sixes, scoring a valuable 31, but Santner struck again at a crucial juncture to hurt India with the big wicket of Dhir.
The New Zealand skipper finished with outstanding figures of 4 for 21, leaving India struggling at 112 for 6 in the 15th over. At that stage, the equation appeared heavily tilted in New Zealand's favour, with India needing close to 70 runs from the final five overs.
The Tilak-Nitish rescue act
Needing 46 from the final three overs, India's hopes rested entirely on Tilak and Nitish, the last-recognised pair. Nitish lifted India immediately with a six off Jacob Duffy and Tilak followed with two crucial boundaries to bring the equation down to 29 off 12. The penultimate over, bowled by Nathan Smith, pretty much sealed the game for India as Tilak found the boundary thrice and cleared the ropes once in an 18-run over. Needing 11 from the final over, Tilak slammed one past extra cover and reached his fifty off the next ball before Nitish completed the win.
Tilak remained unbeaten on 51 off just 26 deliveries, striking six fours and a six, while Nitish contributed an unbeaten 26 to complete a memorable rescue act. Given India's firepower with the bat, New Zealand's total of 180 had certainly appeared insufficient, and so it proved in a sensational finish.
Brief scores
New Zealand 180/5 in 20 overs (Glenn Phillips 70, Bevon Jacobs 58; Arshdeep Singh 2-33) lost to India 181/6 in 19.5 overs (Tilak Varma 51*, Naman Dhir 31; Mitchell Santner 4-21) by 4 wickets.