India beat New Zealand by four wickets with one ball remaining in the second T20I at Hagley Oval, reaching 181/6 in reply to 180/5. Tilak Varma's unbeaten 51 from 26 balls settled a contest in which both sides needed substantial repairs after early wickets.
Phillips and Jacobs rebuild New Zealand's innings
India chose to bowl and had early returns. Arshdeep Singh removed Tim Seifert for 7, caught by Varma, before Bhuvneshwar Kumar dismissed Daryl Mitchell for 6. Prince Yadav then bowled Finn Allen for 16 at 5.2 overs, leaving New Zealand 41/3.
The response came through a fourth-wicket partnership of 116 between Glenn Phillips (70 from 43 balls) and Bevon Jacobs, who made 58 from 46. Phillips struck four fours and four sixes, providing the greater boundary threat, while Jacobs contributed five fours and a six. Together they transformed an innings that had lost its top three before the sixth over was complete.
Arshdeep ended that stand by dismissing Phillips at 17.6 overs and finished with 2/33. Nitish Kumar Reddy then removed Jacobs at 165/5, but Michael Bracewell supplied a late lift with an unbeaten 10 from 2 balls.
India had found some control through Axar Patel, whose wicketless four overs cost 28. Bhuvneshwar's four overs, by contrast, cost 50, helping New Zealand recover enough ground to set a challenging chase.
Varma and Reddy see India past Santner
Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma put on 40 before Jacob Duffy had Samson caught by Phillips for 14. Nathan Smith then removed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi for 4, preventing India from building smoothly on that opening stand.
Mitchell Santner's 4/21 made the middle of the chase far more difficult. He dismissed Abhishek for 27, bowled Shreyas Iyer for 7 and had Axar caught for 11. The latter two wickets came in the same over, leaving India 70/5 at 10.5 overs and dependent on their lower order.
Naman Dhir supplied the first counterattack. His 31 from 17 balls included three sixes, giving the innings renewed impetus in a sixth-wicket partnership of 42 with Varma. Santner broke that stand too, having Dhir caught by Phillips at 112/6 in 14.5 overs.
Reddy ensured the dismissal did not halt India's recovery. He made 26 not out from 13 balls, while Varma's six fours and a six gave the chase its principal scoring contribution. Their unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 69 combined quick scoring with the wicket preservation India had lacked earlier, and New Zealand could not separate them before the target was reached.
The win gave India a 2–0 lead in the five-match series on the India tour of New Zealand 2026, with three matches remaining.