India came back from five down to beat New Zealand off the penultimate ball in Christchurch and lead the T20I series 2–0. Mitchell Santner still made history for the hosts. India women chase the ODI series against Zimbabwe at 2 PM IST today. Also: India A's tough day in Lincoln and Kieron Pollard's new job at Mumbai Indians.
1. Tilak and Nitish finish it: India lead 2–0
India were five down inside 11 overs chasing New Zealand's total at Hagley Oval, then won with one ball left. Tilak Varma made an unbeaten half-century and was player of the match; Nitish Kumar Reddy hit the winning runs in an unbroken stand. Earlier, Glenn Phillips made his second fifty in two games, adding a century stand with Bevon Jacobs. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, in for the injured Ishan Kishan, fell cheaply. In our 30 September snapshot Tilak has 1,666 T20I runs at 43.84, strike rate 143.74, with 22 not-outs in 60 innings. The third T20I is in Wellington on Tuesday at 12:30 PM IST.
2. Santner: first with two T20I four-fors against India
New Zealand's captain Mitchell Santner took four wickets, including Abhishek Sharma and Naman Dhir, to become the first bowler with two four-wicket hauls against India in T20Is. Crickrida's archive backs it up: his first was 4/11 at Nagpur in the 2016 World T20, and across 282 India men's T20I scorecards we hold, 22 bowlers have taken four or more in an innings against India, none of them twice. In our snapshot he had three T20I four-fors and 142 wickets. See men's T20I best bowling.
3. India women v Zimbabwe, 2nd ODI today, 2 PM IST
India lead the three-match series 1–0 after Friday's nine-wicket win and can seal it at Kotambi, Vadodara, today. The seamers were erratic in the opener, Nandani Sharma has been seen with her left knee braced, and Yastika Bhatia is pushing for a home game ahead of Richa Ghosh. Zimbabwe have been playing non-stop since September and were missing two players in game one. Pratika Rawal comes in after an unbeaten hundred; her ODI average was 47.56 in our snapshot. The third ODI is on Wednesday.
4. India A bowled out cheaply on day one in Lincoln
On a green pitch at Bert Sutcliffe Oval, India A were bowled out for a low total on the first day of the first four-day game against New Zealand A, and the hosts closed day one with a small lead. Seamer Simon Keene took five wickets. Yashasvi Jaiswal got a start and edged to slip, KL Rahul made a duck, Devdutt Padikkal batted nearly two hours, and No. 6 Yash Rathod top-scored, unbeaten. Auqib Nabi took two wickets in two balls.
5. Pollard named Mumbai Indians head coach
Kieron Pollard replaces Mahela Jayawardene after a disappointing 2026 season, moving up from batting coach. In Crickrida's ball-by-ball IPL data he played all 189 of his IPL matches for Mumbai (2010–2022): 3,412 runs at a strike rate of 147.32, 223 sixes and 69 wickets.
Also
South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje is out of the third and final Test against Australia with a mild groin injury.
Read the previous note
Yesterday's note: Rawal's 100* sinks Zimbabwe; India v NZ 2nd T20I today. For the first T20I, see India's record T20I chase in NZ and men's T20I highest chases.
The figures behind the infographic
| Statistic | Tilak Varma | Mitchell Santner | Glenn Phillips | Nitish Kumar Reddy |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T20Is | 63 | 138 | 97 | 7 |
| Runs | 1666 | 1108 | 2286 | 91 |
| Batting average | 43.84 | 20.51 | 31.75 | 30.33 |
| Strike rate | 143.74 | 130.66 | 142.69 | 168.51 |
| Highest | 120* | 77* | 108 | 74 |
| Wickets | 5 | 142 | 9 | 9 |
| Economy | 6.09 | 7.17 | 8.53 | 8.33 |
| Best bowling | 1/1 | 4/11 | 3/6 | 3/24 |
Compare two international careers · Tilak Varma profile · Mitchell Santner profile · Glenn Phillips profile · Nitish Kumar Reddy profile · Create your own visual
News items come from the day's cricket coverage. Scores and margins appear only when two reports agree or a report matches Crickrida's data; today only one report was available, so match figures from Christchurch and Lincoln are left out. Career figures come from Crickrida's career snapshot checked 30 September 2026. Santner's four-wicket hauls and the count of four-fors against India are taken from Crickrida's T20I scorecard archive (India men, 282 of 306 matches with scorecards, to 14 October 2026). Pollard's figures come from Crickrida's complete IPL ball-by-ball data. Batting average = runs ÷ dismissals; strike rate = runs per 100 balls; economy = runs per six legal balls.