Tilak Varma’s unbeaten 72 gives India nervy win in slugfest | Cricket News

This wasn’t a sluggish surface that one usually got to see at Chepauk when Chennai Super Kings used to choke opposition with spin. It didn’t bear any resemblance of being a dry surface. Rather, it looked every bit a fresh one with a good bounce on offer. Not once through the course of the match did the ball grip and turn viciously. Yet, with each over into the night, it was beginning to get slower and slower. It led to a slugfest, where two batting powerhouses struggled to bat consently at top gear. And after huffing and puffing in a chase of 166, it was Tilak Varma’s unbeaten 72 that gave India a thrilling two-wicket win at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.
With 6 runs needed off the last over with just two wickets in hand, it was down to Varma. As it was the case right through the chase on Saturday night. A clip off his legs, which appeared to dissect the fielder at fine-leg and square-leg got him only two runs with Liam Livingstone putting a diving effort to save boundary. And as Jamie Overton delivered a full-ball outside off, Varma creamed it through the covers and take off a celebratory run that only ended with a huge leap. Having scored two centuries to announce his arrival in the international scene, this was a knock that showed how much he has matured as a batsman.
It was a night where India’s batsmen struggled to get used to the pitch. Beaten pace, Abhishek Sharma was trapped in front off Wood; Sanju Samson was undone Jofra Archer’s extra yard of pace; Suryakumar Yadav and Dhruv Jurel – who came in place of Rinku Singh – were undone Brydon Chase’s hard lengths that sort of skidded on. Overton’s extra bounce got him Hardik Pandya’s wicket.
England’s Brydon Carse celebrates the dismissal of India’s Washington Sundar during the second T20 cricket match between India and England at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, India, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
At 78/5 in 9.1 overs, despite the batting depth, India’s chase appeared to be going nowhere. As much as a lot has been said about the intent of this batting line-up, a lot of it also comes down to the batting depth. Since the T20 World Cup, it has become a non-negotiable element and despite losing Rinku and Nitish Kumar Reddy for this game because of injuries, India still didn’t find the necessity to bring in Mohammed Shami. So in came Washington Sundar, who joined Varma. The local boy, like his other free-flowing batsmen, struggled to get any sort of flow. The asking rate mounted before out of nowhere India and Washington got a lifeline with Adil Rashid dropping a regulating take at mid-on off Wood. Washington then would end the over with a six and a couple of boundaries before departing in the next over. When Axar Patel fell in the 15th over, the end card was being prepared to be played.
But Varma was in no mood to dislodge. then he had 47 off 37 deliveries with three boundaries and as many sixes. Unlike his rest of his teammates, he didn’t commit to shots early; instead picked the ones that landed on his slot. In India’s batting resurgence, their ability to manufacture shots have stood out, but this was a night where they had to gauge the intent and it was Varma who showed that they are capable of doing it as well.
With Arshdeep Singh and Ravi Bishnoi playing notable cameos and 40 needed off the last five overs, Varma would score 25, including two momentum inducing successive sixes off Archer. And when Rashid came on for his last over, he would play four dots before taking a single. He would shield the strike even when Bishnoi was on, who scored two crucial boundaries to ease the pressure. Varma would then add the finishing touches in the last over.
Earlier, when England batted, a familiar script had played out. After their defeat in Kolkata, England batsman Harry Brook had revealed smog was a reason for their inability to read Indian spinners. Here at Chennai, with a better air quality, England’s struggles had no signs of stopping. Arshdeep Singh once again gave an early break-through removing Phil Salt in the first over and thereafter the spinners took over.
England’s Harry Brook, left, is bowled out India’s Varun Chakravarthy during the second T20 cricket match between India and England at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, India, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)
Washington first saw the back of Ben Duckett, whose reverse-sweep took the top-edge and the fielder at point taking a simple catch. Next up, Varun Chakravarthy showed smog or not, why Brook would struggle to pick his variations. The 33-year-old slipped in a googly, which Brook didn’t pick, and ended up committing to front-foot even before the ball was released. And before he could realise, the ball had hit the top of off. Varun’s reaction – where he gave a cold stare said it all.
For the second game in succession, it was again down to their captain Jos Buttler. He tried to single-handedly carry his team towards a competitive total but at 45 he holed out to the fielder at deep mid-wicket off Axar Patel.
Liam Livingstone, Jamie Smith and Overton all fell trying to go after the spinners as England were seven down for 136 in the 16th over. Carse, playing his maiden T20I, would then provide much needed life to England with 31 before Archer and Rashid played their part as they managed 165/9 a total that looked on par at the break.