New Zealand vs India, 2nd T20I: Tilak Varma Rescues India After Santner's Four-for

Updated: 31 October 2026 · Author: Cricket Match Scorecard Editorial

Two days after the first match, India won another close chase at Hagley Oval on 24 October 2026. This one felt very different, with a slow start and a collapse. Mitchell Santner had India in real trouble, but Tilak Varma made sure that they went 2-0 up, winning by four wickets with a single ball left.

New Zealand recover from a slow start

India again chose to bowl and this time got early reward. Daryl Mitchell and Tim Seifert were both out cheaply and New Zealand slipped to 41/3 by the sixth over, a very different start from their 225 in the first match.

Glenn Phillips and Bevon Jacobs rebuilt without panicking. They put on 116 for the fourth wicket, with Phillips making 70 from 43 and Jacobs 58 from 46. Michael Bracewell's 10 from just two balls at the end helped push the total to 180/5.

Arshdeep Singh was India's best bowler with 2/33, while Axar Patel conceded only 28 from four overs without taking a wicket, a useful example of a spell that does not show its full value in the wickets column.

Santner's spell turns the match

India's chase began slowly and then fell apart. Sanju Samson, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma were all gone by 56, then Shreyas Iyer and Axar Patel departed almost together. India were 70/5 in the 11th over, needing another 111 at more than 11 an over.

Santner was the central figure, taking four of the wickets for just 21 runs in his four overs. He had an economy of 5.25 in a match where 361 runs were scored in total, and only Matt Henry, who bowled just two overs, went for less. It was a remarkable piece of control.

Tilak Varma's rescue

Tilak Varma came in at the end of the collapse and changed the match with 51 not out from 26 balls. He first added 42 with Naman Dhir, who hit three sixes in his 31 from 17. When Dhir fell at 112, India still needed 69, and the required rate had climbed sharply.

Tilak then found the ideal partner in Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made 26 not out from 13. The two added the 69 needed without being parted. India reached 181/6 in 19.5 overs, and Tilak was named player of the match.

Key takeaway

It would be easy to read this result as India chasing well again, but it was closer than that. At 70/5, the chase looked lost. It shows how much a late partnership can do in T20 cricket, and how much pressure a required rate of more than 11 puts on a fielding side as well as the batters. Our run rate guide explains how to track this. The series moved on to Wellington, where things became even more dramatic.