New Zealand 5-167 (Brendon McCullum 91, Kane Williamson 28, Irfan Pathan 3-31) beat India 4-166 (Virat Kohli 70, Yuvraj Singh 34, Kyle Mills 2-17) by one run.

Brendon McCullum played a stormy knock of 91 runs as New Zealand won the thrilling encounter against India and the hosts remained unable to beat them in a T20.

New Zealand piled up 167 runs with half of their side back in the pavilion in the measured 20 overs and restricted India to 166 for the loss of four wickets.

Brendon McCullum (New Zealand) was declared ‘Player of the match’ and ‘Player of the series’ after his commanding knock.

The second and final Twenty20 of the series was played on Tuesday, September 11, 2012, at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.

Earlier, the Indian captain, MS Dhoni, won the toss and elected to chase while sending in the visitors to bat first. The decision paid off instantly as the Black Caps lost their openers for two mere runs in 1.3 overs. Rob Nicol was clean bowled by Zaheer Khan for a duck and the stumps of Martin Guptill were uprooted by Irfan Pathan for just one run.

Brendon McCullum and Kane Williamson got together in the centre and initiated the repair work. McCullum was the most aggressive of the two and opened his arms with 4 fours in the fifth and sixth over. The first fifty of the innings was posted on board with a six from McCullum on the second ball of the 9^th over.

Brendon McCullum achieved his 9^th T20 fifty on the first ball of the 11^th over with a four over extra cover. The second wicket contributed a speedy partnership of 90 runs on 66 balls as Kane Williamson was gone for 28 off 26 balls with 3 fours. The Kiwi skipper, Ross Taylor dropped in next as McCullum continued his onslaught and added 21 runs in the 15^th and 16^th over with 1 six and 3 fours.

Brendon McCullum was finally clean bowled by Irfan Pathan on the fourth ball of the 17^th over for 91 off 55 deliveries with 3 grand sixes and 11 fours. Ross Taylor remained unbeaten for 25 runs as New Zealand hammered 167 runs for the loss of five wickets at the end of the 20^th over.

Irfan Pathan was the most successful bowler with three wickets whereas Zaheer Khan and Lakshmipathy Balaji shared one wicket each.

The Blue Shirts initiated the innings with Gautam Gambhir and the man in great form, Virat Kohli who dispatched 4 fours in the first three overs. Gambhir remained subdued and lost his wicket for three runs as the total reached 26 in three overs. Suresh Raina joined in next with Kohli, they speeded up the run rate and enhanced the score to 43 in five overs.

Raina was dropped on the last ball of the sixth over at mid-off by Adam Milne on the bowling of Jacob Oram at 10 runs. Kohli sent the ball reeling out of the fence twice in the seventh over and completed his second half century in T20 on the fifth ball of the ninth over with a four. Raina hit the first six of the Indian innings on the fifth ball of the 10^th over but lost his wicket in the very next over for 27 off 22 balls with 1 six and 2 fours.

Yuvraj Singh was given a huge welcome once he entered the stadium after his recovery from a long sickness and scored his first run on the second ball he faced. He got a life on the last ball on the 12^th over at 11 as Brendon McCullum and Kayle Mills collided with each other while trying to catch and the latter had to go out of the field with an injured eye.

Yuvraj Singh and Kohli gathered 16 runs in the 13^th over with a six from each of them and they took the score to 120 in 13.2 overs. Virat Kohli became the next victim after scoring 70 off just 41 balls comprising 1 six and 10 fours. MS Dhoni walked in the park next and started creeping towards the target with Yuvraj Singh. The Men in Blue required 25 runs to win the match in the last 12 balls as Yuvraj Singh hit another six on the fifth ball of the 19^th over and the target was reduced to 13 in the last 6 balls.

The timber of Yuvraj Singh was dislodged by James Franklin on the fourth ball of the last over for 34 off 26 balls with 2 sixes and 1 four. India needed four runs to win the encounter but they managed two runs and scored 166 runs at the end of the 20^th over.

Kyle Mills and James Franklin were the only wicket takers and got two wickets each with their calculated bowling.

New Zealand won the thriller with a margin of one mere run and maintained their unbeaten record against India in the shortest version of the game.