IND vs NZ 2nd T20I: Suryakumar Yadav, Ishan Kishan make short work of Kiwis in record chase

In a 200+ chase, this is the fastest-ever in T20I in terms of deliveries left. Pakistan held the earlier record, also against New Zealand. In terms of run rate, this is second-fastest by a full member nation.

• 28 balls Ind vs NZ Raipur 2026 (Tar: 209)
• 24 balls Pak vs NZ Auckland 2025 (Tar: 205)
• 23 balls Aus vs WI Basseterre 2025 (Tar: 215)
• 14 balls SA vs WI Joburg 2007 (Tar:206)

This is the second-fastest run chase of 200+. South Africa beat West Indies in 2023, chasing down 258, scoring at 13.75 runs per over. India have chased down a 209-run target, scoring at 13.63 runs per over. 

India chased down the 209-run target in just 15.2 overs. India lost Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma in the first two overs. But that did not matter. After 6 and 2 runs in the first two overs, Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav unleashed. Ishan smashed 32-ball 76 while Suyrakumar remained unbeaten on 82 off 37 balls. Shivam Dube also joined the party, smashing 36 off 18 as India ripped the New Zealand bowling apart, winning by 7 wickets with 28 balls to spare.

After the dropped catch, Suryakumar Yadav smashed 18 runs against Zakary Foulkes. They need just 13 runs now.

Zakary Foulkes created a chance after going for 49 runs in his first two overs as Suryakumar Yadav top-edged a delivery. But Mitchell Santner dropped an easy chance. He apologised but in the next ball, SKY hammered a six to say thank you.

The runs keep flowing no matter the bowler. India have scored 78 runs in the last five overs and they are marching towards an easy win.

After just 12 overs, India have made the run chase look easy. They now need less than six runs an over. Just a reminder, India lost both their explosive openers in the first two overs.

After a 468-day long wait, Suryakumar Yadav has scored a half-century at last. He failed to score a fifty in 2025. His last fifty was against Bangladesh in 2024.

Zakary Foulkes conceded 49 runs in his first two overs, the most by a bowler in his first two overs from a full member nation. Oshane Thomas of New Zealand conceded 47 against Bangladesh in Mirpur in 2018 earlier.

Sivam Dube has been promoted to No 5 ahead of Hardik Pandya and Rinku Singh to keep the left-right combination going.

Ishan Kishan's brilliant 32-ball 76-run knock ends as he top-edges an Ish Sodhi delivery for an easy catch to Matt Henry. He gets a hug from captain Suryakumar Yadav as the dressing room stands up and celebrates.

After Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav is also on the attack. He has hammered four boundaries and a six against Zakary Foulkes to take 25 runs off the over. SKY moves to 39 off 18 and India are 128/2 in just 9 overs.

Ishan Kishan smashes 21-ball fifty, the fastest by an Indian against New Zealand in T20Is. He has done everything right today after losing Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma. Ishan takes India to 75/2 at the end of the powerplay. 

Ishan Kishan hits Mitchell Santner with a hat-trick of boundaries to move to 40s. He hasn't let the tempo go down despite India losing both their openers in the first two overs.

After taking 24 runs off Zakary Foulkes's over, Ishan Kishan has hammered 10, including two boundaries against Jacob Duffy.

A poor over by Zakary Foulkes and Ishan Kishan goes after him, hammering four boundaries and a six to score 24 runs off his over.

Since his half-century in the Asia Cup, Sanju Samson has scored 13 off 17, 39 off 23, 24 off 21, 2 off 4, 37 off 22, 10 off 7 and 6 off 5. With the team management trusting Samson over Shubman Gill, he needs to show that on the crease.

India lose their star batter Abhishek Sharma for a golden duck. Sanju Samson survived a flick after Devon Conway dropped it. But this time, Conway made no mistake as Abhishek also flicked and the catch was taken. India are in touble at 6/2.

He just got a lifeline but he did not learn. Sanju Samson departs for 6 off 5 balls, extending his poor run of form as Rachin Ravindra takes an easy catch after chipping it at the mid-on.

Sanju Samson gets an early lifeline. Devon Conway was the man at the bounday line all set to take the catch as Sanju Samson flicked a Matt Henry delivery. But Conway failed to hold on to the ball, misjudging it.

Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson begin 209-run chase. Abhishek smashed 84 off 35 balls in the last match. Sanju had a good start only to throw that away with a sloppy dismissal. He will aim to turn things around today.

Mitchell Santner has been in great form with the bat in T20Is and that would be a great news not only for New Zealand, but also for Mumbai Indians in the IPL 2026. Santner has scored 180 runs at a strike rate of 191.48.

• 36(15)
• 55*(28)
• 18*(8)
• 4(3)
• 20*(13)
• 46*(25)

Mitchell Santner is left stranded on 44 off 27. New Zealand end up with 208/6 with 17 runs coming off the last over. With no Jasprit Bumrah, India concede 53 runs in the last four overs.

He already missed a stumping and now, he has let four runs bye. Not a good day for Sanju Samson, the keeper.

Hardik Pandya goes for 13 runs in the 19th over and with two good overs, New Zealand are closing in on 200. They are 191/6.

Mitchell Santner is going after Harshit Rana. The Indian pacer has bowled a poor 18th over after delivering a wicket in the powerplay. He has conceded a six and two fours in this over. Overall, he has conceded 35 runs in three overs at 11.70.

Another partnership is broken as Hardik Pandya returns for his second over to end Mark Chapman's 13-ball 10-run struggle. New Zealand have lost the plot at the death. They lose their 6th wicket for 161 runs.

After conceding 36 runs in the first two overs, Arshdeep Singh has delivered an excellent 3rd over, conceding just 4 runs in the 16th.

Kuldeep bowled an expensive 15th over, conceding 12 runs. New Zealand get to 150. With dew being a huge factor in this ground, they need to get to 200.

And New Zealand keep losing wickets. This time, it's Rachin Ravindra, who was playing a brilliant knock up to that point. Kuldeep Yadav gets the wicket as Ravindra tries to go after the widish delivery. But he had no timing and Arshdeep Singh takes a good catch.

Shivam Dube delivers a wicket in his first over. It was a slow delivery, forcing Daryl Mitchel to throw everything at it but still it did not have the distance and Hardik Pandya took an easy catch. New Zealand 125/4 in 11.3 overs.

Varun Chakaravarthy forces Suryakumar Yadav to take the review after Daryl Mitchell is beaten and struck on the pad. However, the review is wasted as the ball was way outside off stump.

He smashes Varun Chakaravarthy over the umpire's head, almost one-handedly, for a boundary. The ball was wide off stump and it did not matter. New Zealand are going at a good pace here.

There was a review for a stumping after Sanju Samson appealed but replays showed that he was slower than Rachin Ravindra. The Kiwi was home by the time Samson took the bails off.

Sharma comes into the attack now, and this could be a good ploy against Daryl Mitchell. Two fours to end the over.

Both these batters are going great guns at the moment. Boundaries are coming thick and fast and there seems to be no trouble. Oh, Kuldeep has struck. He bowls a slower one and Phillips has given a simple catch to Pandya.

Now VC and Kuldeep are bowling in tandem. That should cut down the run rate by a good margin. For now, India need wickets.

LOok back at Harshit's wicket

Harshit Rana strikes in the very first over! 💣

A timely wicket from #HarshitRana shifts the momentum in India’s favour as he dismisses Devon Conway for the 4th time on this tour.💪🏻#INDvNZ, 2nd T20I | LIVE NOW 👉 https://t.co/Be1n2FWbLQ pic.twitter.com/KTWtsCdy6b

— Star Sports (@StarSportsIndia) January 23, 2026

VC has produced a wicket in the first over itself. Seifert tries to go for a big one and mistimes one. He has to go for 24. That is what the pressure of dot balls does.

Harshit Rana has picked up a wicket. Conway comes on crease after two overs, is beaten on the first, and then gives away a simple catch at mid off to Hardik Pandya. A wickeyt-maiden against the run of play.

Arshdeep is leaking boundaries for now. Seifrt has just picked up pace now, and he has a hat-trick of boundaries. Make it four in four.

Pandya starts his over well and he is swining it both ways. Siefert looks a bit under pressure. But he does get a boundary in the over.

Conway starts with an 18-run over. Arshdeep did not bowl badly, but then the batter was way to aggressive in his approach.

New Zealand have a different opening pair with Tim Seifert joining Devon Conway. India will also have a different bowling pair to begin with as Harshit Rana will start with Arshdeep Singh.

New Zealand

India have made two changes with Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav coming back in. Axar Patel misses out with a finger injury. 

1. Sanju Samson (WK)
2. Abhishek Sharma
3. Ishan Kishan
4. Suryakumar Yadav (C)
5. Hardik Pandya
6. Shivam Dube
7. Rinku Singh
8. Harshit Rana
9. Arshdeep Singh
10. Kuldeep Yadav
11. Varun Chakaravarthy

India opt to bowl

The toss luck is finally in Suryakumar Yadav's favour. He opts to bowl first. SKY says India haven't been chasing and they will look to try that out today.

🚨 Toss 🚨#TeamIndia have won the toss and elected to bowl first in the 2⃣nd T20I.

Updates ▶️ https://t.co/8G8p1tq1RC#INDvNZ | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/AcBcPlcKFZ

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 23, 2026

New Zealand are set for multiple changes as they continue their T20 World Cup preparations. India could be without Axar Patel after injuring his finger in the last match. Toss coming up soon.

The Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium (SVNS) in Raipur features a balanced, black-soil pitch that offers good pace and bounce early, favouring fast bowlers in the powerplay. As the game progresses, it slows down, providing grip and turn for spinners, who often dominate the middle overs. It's a two-paced surface where batters can score freely once set, but large boundaries demand smart shot selection over brute power. 

In the only prior men's T20I here (India vs Australia, 2023), India defended 174 successfully, with spinners proving key. High scores are possible (especially batting first), but bowlers (particularly spinners) hold an edge later. Chasing can be viable with dew, but expect a competitive contest.

Suryakumar Yadav ended 2025 with 0 half-centuries, scoring just 218 runs in 19 innings at an average of 13.62 and a strike rate of 123.16. In the 1st T20I, SKY scored a 22-ball 36, his highest score since Canberra in October. But that long wait for a half-century is continuing. India need their captain at his best before the T20 World Cup.

Despite trying to fit in Shubman Gill in the squad for T20 World Cup, Team India decided to make a u-turn and reinstall Sanju Samson as the opener. And they brought in Ishan Kishan as the backup. However, inconsistent Sanju Samson could be a problem for India in the T20 WC. Since returning to the opening slot, Sanju has scored 22-ball 37 and 7-ball 10. Ishan scored a 5-ball 8. While Ishan will be a backup, Sanju needs to provide the platform with Abhishek Sharma.

Even though Kuldeep Yadav is out of form, Varun Chakaravarthy and Axar Patel are there to plug in the holes. Jasprit Bumrah is back to his best, almost, and Arshdeep Singh is also picking up wickets. But the biggest concern is fielding. India have been sloppy on the field and their catching efficiency has nosedived. Since the Asia Cup 2025, India's catching efficiency is just 73.7%, dropping 26 catches while taking 73.

Team India have exactly four matches to fine-tune their line-up. While almost all spots are sealed, injuries to Tilak Varma and Washington Sundar are a concern. Tilak is expected to be fit by the 4th T20I. But that is a tight deadline. As for Sundar, he is not available for the entire IND vs NZ T20I series. Instead, he will directly play the T20 WC.

New Zealand, captained by Mitchell Santner, fought back in patches in Nagpur but were outclassed by India's depth. Returning players from injuries and absences need to step up quickly, with batters like Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra crucial to counter India's pace-spin combo. The Kiwis must win here to keep the series alive, but facing a juggernaut on home soil, where India have won 10 straight series, makes it a tall order. Expect high-scoring potential if India bat first, but dew and spinners could tilt the chase. India remain heavy favourites to extend their streak.

India enter the Raipur encounter brimming with confidence after posting a massive 238 in the first T20I, powered by explosive batting from Abhishek Sharma, Rinku Singh, and others. Suryakumar Yadav's men have transformed into an aggressive unit post their 2024 T20 World Cup triumph, and they show no signs of easing off. With key players like Jasprit Bumrah leading the attack and spinners likely to thrive on Raipur's surface, India look poised to dominate again. A potential tweak could see Kuldeep Yadav replace the injured Axar Patel for added wrist-spin variety.