2nd T20I: Tilak Varma rescue act helps India win thriller in Chennai, take 2-0 lead

A sensational rescue act from Tilak Varma helped India clinch a thriller in Chennai on Saturday, January 25. Playing at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, the left-hander's resilient 72* off 55 balls meant that India beat England by 2 wickets in a chase of 166 runs.

While the superstar India batters fell to terrible shots throughout the innings, Tilak Varma stood his ground, batted with the tail, and helped India cross the line with just 4 balls remaining. Varma hit 4 fours and 5 sixes in his innings in a classy show with the bat in the 2nd T20I match of the series.

Varma's incredible maturity was on display as he navigated the English bowling line-up well in a nervy chase for India. Tilak took on his match-ups well, paced his innings and did not lose his cool under pressure. The maturity was on show, as Tilak was quite free-flowing in his shots early in his innings, where he cut and flicked Jofra Archer for sixes. However, the batter had to gradually slow down and read the situation as batters at the other end started falling like a pack of cards.

After his initial aggressive form, Varma's second flourish came in the 16th over, when he once again



took apart Jofra Archer for a 19-run over. However, just when it felt like India would secure a comfortable win, the hosts lost the wicket of Arshdeep Singh – the 8th of the Indian innings – who tried to be a hero and take on Adil Rashid in the final ball of the 17th over.

With pressure on once again, Tilak chose his shots and runs carefully and was helped by a crafty hand from Ravi Bishnoi, who stood tall on the other side, remaining unbeaten at 9 runs off 5 balls – which included 2 crucial boundaries.

Varma hit Brydon Carse for a boundary in the 2nd ball of the final to seal the deal for India and saw the India captain Suryakumar Yadav bow down to him in the dugout.

Tilak's innings nullfied Brydon Carse and Adil Rashid's heroics, who bowled tight lines to aggressive India batters to keep them in check. The match nearly turned in between the 10th and 15th overs where Carse and Rashid operated beautifully. Carse picked up 3 wickets from his 4 overs, while Adil Rashid controlled the flow of runs from the other end (4-0-14-1).

However, England were probably nearly 15 runs short on a decent batting deck in Chennai.