Tilak Varma headlines stunning fightback as India clinch thriller at Chepauk

A last-over thriller set Chepauk alight on a blockbuster Saturday evening as India clinched the bragging rights of the game with two wickets to spare. In the second T20I of the series, India had to grind hard enough to wriggle through against a formidable England whose bowlers showed tremendous grit to compete the hosts blow for blow.

Winning the toss, India opted to bowl first and Arshdeep Singh continued to dominate the proceedings as he claimed the wicket of Phil Salt (4). Washington Sundar joined the groove too, removing Ben Duckett (3) in a while. Jos Buttler (45) once again proved to be the nexus of the English battery joining forces with Harry Brook (13).

Varun Chakravarthy came in with a spell of doom for the Englishmen again as he rattled through the defences of Brook. India’s vice-captain, Axar Patel got rid of the English skipper while following that up with the scalp of Liam Livingstone (13) to reduce England to 90/5.

Jamie Smith (22) did put up a show of resilience with a 12-ball-22 but fell to part-timer, Abhishek Sharma. Jamie Overton (5) did drop anchor at the other end while Brydon Carse unleashed a full-blown assault with a 17-ball-31. Varun Chakravarthy continued with the good run as he got rid of Overton while Dhruv Jurel got rid of Carse with a timely run-out.

Much to India’s surprise, a late stand of resistance from Adil Rashid (10) saw England crawl to a fighting 165/8. Axar Patel and Varun Chakravarthy registered four wickets between them to underline the Indian charge as a target of 166 was posted ahead of them.

The hosts were jolted to a rude awakening as Sanju Samson (5) and Abhishek Sharma (12) couldn’t really get the wheels rolling for Team India. Much to India’s woes, their captain, Suryakumar Yadav (12) couldn’t add much either. It was Tilak Varma who started the innings on a slow note while preparing a platform for the grandstand finish.

Dhruv Jurel (4) and Hardik Pandya (7) were no match to the formidable might of English bowling on the day as India were reduced to 78/5. It was Washington Sundar (26) who chimed in with a crucial knock to help Tilak Varma get the gears in place. Despite the consistent fall of wickets at the other end, India managed to cling onto the resounding resurgence carved by Tilak Varma.

Eventually, it was Varma who smashed home a match-winning 72* from just 55 balls that saw India cross the finishing line in the final over of the chase. Varma’s defining knock won him the Player of the Match award while India registered a two-wicket victory to go 2-0 up in the five-match series.