Images from the second T20 International between India and England at the M A Chidambaram Stadium, in Chennai, on Saturday.
Tilak Varma's kept his composure in a pressure situation to help India survive a top-order meltdown against England pacers and register a thrilling two-wicket win in the second T20 International in Chennai on Saturday.
Varma stroked 72 not out from 55 balls, hitting five sixes and four fours, as India finished on 166/8 in 19.2 overs to clinch victory with four balls to spare and take a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.
It was a mini classic because the left-hander hardly had any support from the other end as the England bowlers kept chipping away at the wickets at regular intervals.
Pacer Jofra Archer was his pet hunt of the night, slamming the England fast bowler 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 lost their way in the middle overs 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 58/3, the English pacers crashed through that creek to bag the wickets of Dhruv Jurel and Hardik Pandya to reduce India to 78/5, in the 10th over.
But Washington Sundar, who was dropped on 10 by Adil Rashid at mid-on off Wood, cashed in on that reprieve, hammering the Durham man for a six and two fours in succession to bring down the mounting asking rate.
However, Washington's attempt to run a 140 kmph thunderbolt from Carse to the third man saw the ball crashing onto his stumps.
India were 116 for six then. But they found a willing soldier in Tilak, who guided the lower order batters in a tight run chase to steer the hosts home to victory.
Earlier, Jos Buttler showed semblance of fight but other English batters didn't follow skipper's suit while succumbing to Indian spinners, as the visitors were restricted to an underwhelming 165/9 in the second T20 International in Chennai on Saturday.
Buttler stroked 45 from 30 balls, hitting three sixes and two fours as he played some delectable shots, including a sequence of 4, 6, 4 off pacer Arshdeep Singh, who got rid of Phil Salt in the first over.
Salt pulled the left-arm pacer, who was earlier on the day named as the ICC T20 Player of the Year, but could not find the distance to get caught by Washington Sundar, who replaced injured Nitish Kumar Reddy in the XI, near the square leg boundary.
Washington had a moment of success for himself when Ben Duckett's reverse off him fell easily into the hands of Dhruv Jurel, who came in for injured Rinku Singh.
However, the pull shot continued to haunt the English batters for the rest of the night as Buttler and later Liam Livingstone perished playing that shot.
India vice-captain Axar Patel (2/32) was the beneficiary of England batters' adventurous intentions.
The left-arm spinner bowled into the pitch and the inherent grip on the surface did not allow the batters to impart force and direction to their shots.
Buttler, whose aggression helped England to reach 58 for two in the Power Play overs, was caught by Tilak Varma, while Livingstone ended in the hands of substitute Harshit Rana.
All-rounder Brydon Carse, who came in for Gus Atkinson, used the long handle to good effect, smashing 31 off 17 balls including three sixes but a moment of misunderstanding with Jofra Archer snapped his promising knock.
The highlight of the England innings was the dismissal of Harry Brook, who began well, smashing a six off spinner Varun Chakravarthy (2/38).
But soon a back of the hand delivery breached Brook's defence to rattle his off-stump for the second match in a row, as the English right-hander could not read it despite Chennai not having any smog.
A couple of beefy blows by lower-order batters helped England go past the 150-run mark but they will be left pondering their approach against the Indian spinners.
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