Tilak Varma, Nitish Reddy guide India to 4-wicket win over New Zealand

India beat New Zealand by 4 wickets in the second T20I of the New Zealand vs India T20I Series 2026, with Tilak Varma and Nitish Kumar Reddy sharing an unbroken seventh-wicket stand to seal the chase. New Zealand made 180/5 in 20 overs, and India reached 181/6 in 19.5 overs.

The result gives India a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Shreyas Iyer captained India in this match, and Mitchell Santner captained New Zealand.

The details

India’s chase looked far off when they were struggling in the 11th over. Naman Dhir’s brisk cameo then gave them momentum. Santner was New Zealand’s key bowler, dismissing Abhishek Sharma, Axar Patel, Iyer and later Dhir to put his side back in control.

Tilak and Reddy then held their nerve. Their stand became India’s highest seventh-wicket partnership in T20Is, surpassing the 2019 effort of Dinesh Karthik and Krunal Pandya against New Zealand. AFP reported that Tilak planned to see off the accurate New Zealand spinners before attacking the seamers at the death.

India also became the first team to register 200 wins in men’s T20 Internationals, according to ANI.

What they said

Iyer said India felt the game was slipping away when consecutive wickets fell. He praised Tilak and Reddy for their character, credited Dhir, and admitted India played too many dot balls early. He added that Bracewell and Santner controlled the middle overs.

Tilak said head coach Gautam Gambhir and batting coach Sitanshu Kotak told him before the game that the whole of India believed in him. He said he wanted to take the chase as deep as possible.

Santner said one more wicket would have meant game over for India. He felt no-balls and dropped catches hurt his side, and that New Zealand could easily have been 2-0 up.

Team changes and what’s next

India made two changes before the match. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi replaced the injured Ishan Kishan, and Prince Yadav came in for Mayank Yadav.

India also won the first T20I on 22 October by 4 wickets, chasing New Zealand’s 225/4 with 230/6 in 19.4 overs. The third T20I is on Tuesday, 27 October at 12:30 PM IST in Wellington, followed by Auckland on 30 October and Hamilton on 1 November, both also at 12:30 PM IST.