Tilak and Nitish Rescue India from 70 for Five to Beat New Zealand and Lead Series 2-0
The target was not very large for the conditions, yet in chasing it India at one stage stood on the edge of defeat. Five batsmen were back in the pavilion for just 70 runs, a position from which dreaming of victory is difficult. But Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy refused to give up, and their destructive late batting carried India to a dramatic win.
On Saturday (October 24) in Christchurch, India beat New Zealand by four wickets in the second match of the five-match T20 series. Replying to the hosts' 180, the visitors scored 181 for six in 19.5 overs. The win put India 2-0 ahead in the series.
The chase of 181 did not begin well for India. Vaibhav Suryavanshi, returning to the eleven, also failed, scoring only four runs off eight balls. Sanju Samson made 14 and Abhishek Sharma 27.
Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel also reached double figures but could not build big innings. At 70 for five in 10.5 overs, India were under deep pressure and the match was leaning towards New Zealand.
Naman Dheer then reignited the contest. His blistering 31 off 17 balls revived India's hopes, but when he fell at 14.5 overs, the equation turned difficult once again.
Tilak and Nitish then took charge. Scoring quickly at the end, they piled pressure on the New Zealand bowlers and built an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 69 runs off just 30 balls to take their team home.
Tilak remained unbeaten on 51 off 26 balls, with six fours and one six. At the other end, Nitish stayed not out on 26 off 13 balls. India sealed the win with one ball to spare, and Tilak also won the player of the match award.
Earlier, batting first after winning the toss, New Zealand posted 180 for five in 20 overs. The hosts were in early trouble at 41 for three, before Glenn Phillips and Bevon Jacobs led the recovery with the bat.
Phillips and Jacobs added 116 runs for the fourth wicket. Phillips scored 70 off 43 balls with four fours and four sixes, while Jacobs made 58 off 46 balls. Both, however, departed quickly towards the end. For India, Arshdeep Singh took two wickets for 33 runs.
New Zealand's most successful bowler was captain Mitchell Santner. His four wickets for 21 runs put India under severe pressure, but in the end even his excellent bowling could not bring his team victory against the Tilak-Nitish resistance.
With wins in both matches, India lead the five-match series 2-0. The third T20 will be played on October 27 in Wellington, where a win would secure the series for the visitors.
