Tilak Varma's heroic 72 not out helps India win thriller in Chennai, go 2-0 up against England in T20 series

Tilak Varma dished out a match-winning 72 not out off 55 balls to rescue India from the jaws of defeat in a thrilling game in Chennai on Saturday, helping them go 2-0 up in the five-match T20I series against England. The Mumbai Indians batter, who was the leading run-scorer in the Men in Blue’s tour of South Africa in November, stood tall even as wickets kept tumbling at the other end.

Varma not only took the game deep, but ensured he was around to finish the job by hitting the winning boundary as India chased down the 166-run target with four balls to spare. Besides the 22-year-old Hyderabad batter, fellow southpaw and local lad Washington Sundar chipped in with a valuable 26 off 19 balls while tail-ender Ravi Bishnoi struck a handy 9 off 5 balls that contained two boundaries, stitching an unbroken 20-run partnership with Tilak.

Pacer Brydon Carse was the pick of the English bowlers with figures of 3/29 from four overs while six members of the visitors’ attack collected at least a wicket.

After winning the series opener at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens in thumping fashion thanks to opener Abhishek Sharma’s explosive 79 off 34 balls , India had restricted England to 165/9 with spinners Axar Patel (2/32) and Varun Chakravarthy (2/38) collecting a couple of wickets each. Bishnoi, who would star with the bat later in the day, was the most economical of the Indian bowlers by conceding 27 runs in four wicketless overs at an economy under 7.

For the second game in a row, skipper Jos Buttler was England’s top-scorer as he struck 45 off 30 balls, his innings containing two fours and three sixes. Besides his heroics with the ball, South African-born Carse had made a handy contribution with the bat as well as his knock of 31 off 17 balls (one four and three sixes) helped the visitors cross 160.

The two teams travel to Rajkot where the third T20I will take place at the Saurashtra Cricket Association Stadium on Tuesday.

Brief scores:

England 165/9 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 45, Brydon Carse 31; Axar Patel 2/32) lost to India 166/8 in 19.2 overs (Tilak Varma 72*, Washington Sundar 26; Brydon Carse 3/29) by two wickets.