India, Oct. 24 -- Chasing 181 in the 2nd T20I against New Zealand at Christchurch on Saturday, India were stuttering at 135/6 after the 17th over. They still needed 46 runs off 18 balls. Timing the ball had been difficult for the batters, and Tilak Varma's stay, yielding 17 runs off 13 balls, was an illustration of how difficult things were.

New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner had orchestrated things brilliantly until then. He himself ran through the Indian line-up with figures of 4/21 in four overs, while the support cast did enough around him to make life difficult for the visitors.

Until Tilak did what he does best: provide a top-notch finish under pressure. India's middle-order batter scored 34 runs off the next 13 deliveries and r...