Sunday 26 / January / 2025
Chennai : Tilak Varma's fireworks brought India home in a nail-biting thriller with a two-wicket win against England in the second T20I at MA Chidambaram Stadium here.
The 166-run chase, seemingly a modest total, turned out to be a topsy-turvy affair as English debutant Brydon Carse brought thunder down at Chepauk. It was a gripping affair where momentum swung like a pendulum. India are now 2-0 up in the five match series.
With Carse reigning supreme at one end, Tilak formulated countered with some flawless shorts.
It all started with Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson perishing to English tearaways Mark Wood and Jofra Archer respectively. Abhishek was the first to fall to Wood's scorching pace.
The English speedster clocked 148 kph to pin Abhishek in front of the stumps, ending his quick start with a score of 12(6). Sanju (5) joined his partner in the dressing room after Archer exposed his short ball weakness.
Tilak and skipper Suryakumar Yadav offered some assurance with a set of belligerent strokeplay to drive India's score in the powerplay.
Carse continued to be a speed demon who continued to haunt the Indian batters. In the final over of the powerplay, Suryakumar (12) was slow to react to Carse and ended up chopping the ball into the stumps.
The middle phase was a nightmare that India had to endure as wickets kept falling consistently. Dhruv Jurel and Hardik Pandya were back in the dressing room, with India dwindling at 79/5.
In the next 10 overs, Tilak stitched up a valuable 38-run stand with Washington Sundar. With a flurry of attacking shots from Sundar off Wood, India were back in the thick of the chase.
Buttler knew the gravity of the situation and called Carse back into the attack to tip the scales in England's favour. The decision worked like a charm, with Carse perfectly producing a cross-seam delivery to clean up Sundar for 26(19).
Vice-captain Axar Patel failed to make much of an impact after holing it to Ben Duckett off Liam Livingstone. India needed something big, and Tilak decided to use Archer's pace to his favour in the 16th over.
Archer conceded 19 runs as India dug in for a possible victory. Arshdeep Singh tried to take on Adil Rashid in the next over and went for a hard swing. The timing was a bit off as the ball landed in Archer's hands.
After showing reluctance to rotate the strike, Sundar rotated the strike for the final two deliveries. Ravi Bishnoi flicked the ball towards the boundary rope, bringing the equation down to 13 in 13. In the next over, Bishnoi was at it again. He found an outside edge against Liam Livingstone to pick up another four.
The match went to the final over, and Tilak Verma executed a cover drive to bring the hosts home with a 2-wicket win.
Earlier in the match, England's innings got off to a shaky start as Phil Salt was dismissed for just four by Arshdeep Singh. His opening partner, Ben Duckett, followed soon after, managing only three runs before falling to Washington Sundar.
Despite the early setbacks, the visitors reached 50 in 5.1 overs, thanks to skipper Jos Buttler's counterattacking knock. However, wickets continued to fall at regular intervals. Harry Brook, after a brief stay at the crease, was cleaned up by Varun Chakravarthy for 13, leaving England in further trouble.
Buttler, in fine form, smashed 45 off 30 deliveries with two boundaries and three sixes. However, his innings came to an end when Axar Patel dismissed him, reducing England to 77/4 in 9.3 overs. Liam Livingstone, another key player, could not make an impact, contributing just 13 runs before falling to Patel. At 90/5, England were in dire straits.
Jamie Smith showed some resilience, scoring 22 runs, but his stay was cut short by Abhishek Sharma. England then stumbled to 104/6. Varun Chakravarthy, playing his first international match at home, made further inroads by dismissing Jamie Overton for 5, claiming his second wicket of the game.
Brydon Carse provided a late flourish for England with a quickfire 31 off 17 balls, but his innings was ended by a run-out. Adil Rashid (10) was the final wicket to fall, dismissed by Hardik Pandya, as England could only manage 165/9 in their allotted 20 overs.
Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy were the key performers, picking up two wickets each, while Arshdeep Singh, Hardik Pandya, Washington Sundar, and Abhishek Sharma chipped in with one wicket apiece.
