Superstar in the making. Tilak Varma has played a Virat Kohli-esque knock against England in the 2nd T20I in Chennai. Scoring a half-century when the next highest scorer from your team hasn’t even managed to hit half the amount of runs you have screams, Kohli. In immaculate form, Tilak has made sure to make full use of the golden period he’s in.
Tilak Varma carry job
Before this match-winning knock, the southpaw had scored 246 runs while being unbeaten in his last three innings. Now that run tally stands at 318 after his carry job at the MA Chidambaram Stadium. Indian spinners had done well to restrict England to 165, taking seven of the nine wickets.
It seemed like it would be a walk in the park. Abhishek Sharma gave Team India a flourishing start but didn’t last long, and Tilak Varma came in at three (Kohli’s number). The scorecard had read 15/1. Sanju Samson departed soon after. Suryakumar Yadav stuck in for a bit, and after he departed at 58, two more quick wickets (Hardik Pandya and Dhruv Jurel) followed.
At 78/5 in 9.1 overs, the run rate was in control, but with both Nitish Kumar Reddy and Rinku Singh injured, the batting was thin. Washington Sundar supported Tilak enough that Team India needed just 50 runs from 38 balls. With Axar Patel, the hope was the hosts would get there.
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Masterful batting with the tail
Team India got there, but it was a struggle. Tilak had to farm the strike as if it were a Test match, and Team India had to save the follow-on. The runs were never the issue, but wickets were. Axar Patel fell, and so did Arshdeep Singh. 20 runs left with 2 wickets in hand and 18 balls left, this was the equation.
From there on, Tilak made sure he didn’t let the English bowlers have a go at Ravi Bishnoi. Jos Buttler’s gamble to give Liam Livingstone the penultimate over didn’t work that well as Bishnoi heaved one for a boundary. The game came to the final over; 6 runs were needed, and 6 balls were left.
Tilak finished it off with a boundary as Virat Kohli would. From 15/1 to 166/8, Tilak Varma guided Team India to an incredible victory, scoring 72 runs in just 55 balls. A knock to remember for the ages.
India vs England 2nd T20I: Brief Scores
England: 165/9 (Jos Buttler 45, Brydon Carse 31; Axar Patel 32/2, Varun Chakaravarthy 2/38)
India: 116/8 (Tilak Varma 72*, Washington Sundar 26; Brydon Carse 29/3, Adil Rashid 14/1)
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