Chennai, Jan 25 (UNI) In a humdinger of a contest that went down the wire, left hander Tilak Varma's unbeaten half century anchored a brilliant chase as India won by two wickets in a tense finish to go
2-0 up in the second T20 against England at the M A Chidambaram Stadium on a memorable Saturday night.
Set to score 166 for win, India romped home with four balls to spare and fittingly Tilak Varma took the team past the finishing line with a boundary.
The home team was in trouble as they lost the top half of their batsmen inside 10 overs, with Tilak Varma holding firm at one end and finally helped India overhaul the target scoring a superb 72 in
55 balls with four fours and five sixers.
However, due credit should also be given to another leftie Washington Sundar (26, 19 balls, 3x4, 1x6), whose key partnership with Tilak, came in handy after the home was in a spot of bother at
78 for five in the 10th over as England quick bowlers generated good pace and bounce troubling
the Indian batters, with speeds ranging from 140 to 150 and 152 kmph.
Earlier, asked to bat first, England, thanks to skipper Jos Butler's fluent and blistering knock
(45, 30 balls 2x4, 3x6) guided the team to 165 for nine, which appeared to be a decent total.
Though other batters got starts, they failed to consolidate as the Indian spinners struck at
regular intervals, before a fine cameo in the end by South African born Brydon Chase
(31, 17 balls, 1x4, 3x6) helped England to a decent total, which was overhauled by India
in a tense finish.
Spinners Varun Chakravarthy and Axar Patel claimed two wickets each, while two other
spinners and pacers Arshdeep Singh and Hardik Pandya claimed a wicket each.
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