YESSSSSS! It was all romba nalla in Chennai as Team India made it 2️⃣ wins in 2️⃣ with a nail-biting victory. 🤪

To begin the proceedings, Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to field first on a spin-friendly wicket.

Vice-captain Axar Patel was the pick of the bowlers, claiming 2/32 in his quota of four overs.

…and then the run chase was all about Tilak’s mature demeanour to help us get over the line in a challenging situation. 🤯 Let’s get going with the match report, shall we?!!

First 10 overs – England score 78, India keep things tight

Scoring runs can always be tough on the Chepauk pitch. However, the visitors did manage to amass 78 runs amidst some good bowling by the hosts.

Arshdeep paaji, who won the ICC Men’s T20I Cricketer of the Year earlier in the day, once again struck in his very first over to send Phil Salt packing for the second time running. 😎

Thereafter, Dhruv Jurel and Washington Sundar combined to get the better of Ben Duckett, with the latter spinning the web around the southpaw.

Nonetheless, captain Jos Buttler played the role of the aggressor, helping his side to 58/2 at the end of six overs.

Powerplay done and dusted. Enter Varun Chakaravarthy in the chat. 😉

The in-form bowler made an immediate impact by dismissing the dangerous-looking Harry Brook in the same fashion as he did in the previous match! 🎥 Watch it for yourself…

The 10th over saw Axar Patel get rid of Jos Buttler, who fell five runs short of his successive fifty.

Mid-way through, the contest looked evenly poised at 78/4.

Spinners leave no stone unturned!

Baapu and part-time bowler Abhishek Sharma continued to make inroads, sending Liam Livingstone and Jamie Smith 🔙 to the pavilion, respectively, in the 12th and 13th over.

Jamie Overton was next to head back as Varun Chakaravarthy bowled another beauty to extend his fine run of form! 💪 We’re surely gonna watch this wicket on loop…

However, Brydon Carse did try to bring the innings back on track with an attacking 17-ball 31, only to be undone by an unfortunate run-out! Wicket to wicket hove hai… 😌

At the end of 20 overs, the Englishmen concluded at 165/9, setting a 166-run target.

TV चा prime time show!

It’s tough to keep Varmaji 🤫 for too long, isn’t it?!

After Sanju Samson & Abhishek Varma departed, Tilak Varma shouldered the responsibility of steadying the boat and oh boy, he did that with sheer determination!

Tilak Varma took Jofra Archer to the cleaners in the fifth over, smashing a four and a couple of ek number maximums! Just the kind of warm-up our 🌟 player needed…

The 22-year-old didn’t stop there as he continued to keep the scoreboard ticking with wickets falling at the other end. He completed his half-century off 39 balls to make us BELIEVE.

Tilak भाऊ held the fort till the very end, scoring the all-important 55-ball 72*! Shabash re, TILAKKKKK! 👏

Washington’s Sundar support! 

Coming in at 78/5, Washington Sundar played a superb supporting role for his fellow left-handed batter, scoring 26 off 19 balls.

He hit Mark Wood for 6,4,4 in the 13th over, much to the delight of the ICT fans. This contribution indeed played an instrumental role in India’s hard-fought victory! 🙌

Bowlers turn batters!

Arshdeep Singh’s 4-ball 6 and Ravi Bishnoi’s 5-ball 9 might not look too eye-catching at face value, but they were definitely GOLD given the circumstances.

As it’s said, 𝘼𝙡𝙡'𝙨 𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙀𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡! 💙 A terrific effort coupled with calmness powered us to a narrow two-wicket win. The Suryaklumar Yadav-led side will now head to Rajkot with a 2-0 lead. C’MONNNNNN! 🤩

 

Brief scores: England 165/9 (Jos Buttler 45, Axar Patel 2/32) lost to India 166/8 (Tilak Varma 72*, Brydon Carse 3/29) by two wickets.