2nd T20I: Tilak Varma Powers India To Two-Wicket Win After Top-Order Fails

Tilak Varma's fifty of rare brilliance helped India survive a top-order meltdown against England pacers and register a two-wicket win in the second T20I and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series in Chennai on Saturday. Tilak (72 not out, 55b, 4x4, 5x6) cleverly used the extreme pace of English bowlers to amass runs, and singlehandedly took India past the target, as the hosts finished the night at 166 for eight. It was a mini classic because the left-hander hardly had constant support from the other end and the England bowlers were cock-a-hoop lot after making serious inroads.

Pacer Jofra Archer was his pet hunt of the night, slamming the Sussex man for a total of four sixes, the fourth one taking him past his fifty, as he leaked 60 runs in four overs for the wicket of Sanju Samson.

The left-hander's inside the line six off pacer Brydon Carse over deep fine leg (3/29) too was highly impressive.

But India had to walk through the panic room before Tilak's solidity carried them home.

The in-form Abhishek Sharma got India off the block in a blistering fashion, carting Archer for three boundaries in the very first over.

But a 148 kmph nip-backer by pacer Mark Wood pinged him on the back foot and even the DRS, which was taken more in hope than in any real conviction, could not save him.

The dismissal had India at a slightly shaky 15 for one which soon turned into a more concerning 19 for two along with the wicket of Samson.

The nerves were eased when skipper Suryakumar Yadav and Tilak added 39 quick runs for the third wicket to take their side to 58, but the former dragged Carse on to his stumps to give England an opening.

From 58 for three, the English pacers crashed through that creek to bag the wickets of Dhruv Jurel and