Following his match-winning knock against England in the second T20I, Indian batter Tilak Varma revealed his strategy while batting with tailenders to chase the remaining 40 runs of the 166-run target and lauded spinner Ravi Bishnoi for his brief cameo of nine runs in five balls, which included two fours.

In one of the best knocks in a T20I run chase by an Indian batter in recent memory, Tilak batted well with tailenders to chase 40 runs out of the 166-run target with immense game awareness and tactical intelligence, helping India secure a 2-0 lead in the five-match series. From 126/7, India sailed to a win with Arshdeep Singh (4) and Ravi (9*) each contributing a partnership of 20 runs.

Speaking on Star Sports’ Cricket Live Show after the game, Tilak said of his strategy during the final few overs, “Actually, I was under a lot of pressure.

Arshdeep was saying, ‘I will hit it. I will hit it. I have to give a single.’ So, I thought, on this wicket, (Jofra) Archer can’t get you out. On this wicket, Adil Rashid will because his ball was moving a lot. I knew that Arshdeep would try to hit the spinner. I said, ‘No, bhai‘,” Tilak revealed.

“If Arshdeep wanted to play, he should play Archer. He said he would not play Archer, so I said, ‘Okay, I will play.’ I told him to be ready with his defence. ‘Whether you get a bouncer or not, you just have to stop him. If you see him behind, bend down.’ So, I do not know what he did. He said, ‘If I get a bouncer, I will hit him from above.’ He said a lot of things. But whatever happened, I am happy that he got a boundary off Archer.

“And the best thing to see was Ravi Bishnoi’s batting. He has done a very good job in nets. He and Varun Chakravarthy did a very good job in batting. I had a lot of faith in both of them that they could play. I told them, ‘If you want to hit, you have to hit in the gaps. If you get a single, there is no problem. If you want to bend down on the bouncer, you have to play like Test cricket.’ So, actually, Ravi Bishnoi played well. If you see, he hit a flick from the front. A lot of credit goes to him too. Those two fours were very important,” he added.

Coming to the match, India won the toss and elected to bat first. Barring skipper Jos Buttler (45 in 30 balls, with two fours and three sixes), the England top order once again was struggling against spin. A couple of useful cameos from Brydon Carse (31 in 17 balls, with a four and three sixes) and wicketkeeper-batter Jamie Smith (22 in 12 balls, with a four and two sixes) took England to 165/9 in their 20 overs.

Axar Patel (2/32) and Varun Chakravarthy (2/38) caused England the most trouble.

In the run-chase, India suffered setbacks in the first half, as Abhishek Sharma (12), Sanju Samson (4), skipper Suryakumar Yadav (12), Dhruv Jurel (4) and Hardik Pandya (7) perished one by one. Tilak got assistance from Washington Sundar (26 in 19 balls, with three fours and a six), a 38-run partnership that let India cross the 100-run mark from a poor situation of 78/5. After Sundar and Axar (2) perished in quick succession with 40 runs left, Tilak had partnerships with Arshdeep Singh (4) and Ravi Bishnoi (9*) that helped India secure a win with two wickets and four balls left.

Carse’s brilliant spell of 3/29 and a strong spell of 1/14 by spinner Adil Rashid went in vain as India took a 2-0 lead in the five-match series.

Yashasvi Jaiswal and skipper Suryakumar Yadav displayed their wide array of strokes as India took an unassailable 2-0 lead, winning the rain-curtailed second T20I by seven wickets with nine balls to spare in Pallekele on Sunday. Head coach Gautam Gambhir and new captain Suryakumar couldn’t have asked for a better start to their new roles as the Indian team played like true T20 World Champions outplaying Sri Lanka in all departments. Despite Shubman Gill‘s absence due to neck spasm and another failure in the format for the ever-hyped Sanju Samson (0), Jaiswal (30 off 15 balls) and Suryakumar (26 off 12 balls) didn’t even break a sweat in their short but tricky chase of 78 in 8 overs after another fine effort by bowlers had restricted Sri Lanka to 161 for 9.

Just when Maheesh Theekshana looked dangerous getting Samson with a carrom ball and squaring up Surya with a doosra, the Mumbai duo decided to bring the sweep shot — both conventional and reverse — out of the closet.

The strategy was to not allow Theekshana and Wanindu Hasaranga‘s deliveries to deviate off the surface and create confusion.

Instead, the India batters used their reach to good effect and smother the turn. They added 39 in 3.1 overs and by the time Surya and Jaiswal were dismissed, they had hit seven fours and three sixes between them.

It was left to Hardik Pandya (22 not out off 9 balls) and Rishabh Pant (2 not out) to complete the formalities in 6.3 overs and render the final match of the series on Tuesday inconsequential.

Earlier, Surya called right and his bowlers did a repeat act on successive days with the home team losing as many as seven wickets for 31 runs in their last 30 balls after being comfortably placed at 130 for 2 in 15 overs.

Despite scoring 80 in the first 10 overs and in a position to accelerate, Charith Asalanka‘s side lost its way, managing just 81 runs in the back-10 as Pandya’s (2/23 in 2 overs) change of pace and Ravi Bishnoi‘s (3/26 in 4 overs) fast googlies did the trick.

Axar Patel and Arshdeep Singh also chipped in with two wickets each.

This was after Pathum Nissanka (32 off 24 balls) and veteran southpaw Kusal Perera (53 off 34 balls) had added 54 runs for the second wicket in six overs to set the platform only to find batters coming after them fritter it away.

As the Indian bowlers tightened the noose around the Lankan batters, the desperation to break the shackles saw the likes of all-rounders Dasun Shanaka (0) and Hasaranga (0) playing indiscreet shots as frown on interim head coach Sanath Jayasuriya‘s face was so palpable.

From 130 for 2 in 15 overs, Sri Lanka suddenly had a middle-order collapse, second in as many days, where they lost four wickets in a space of 10 deliveries and never recovered.

Surya’s bowling plans aided by Gambhir’s back-room brainstorming was evident as Bishnoi, who seemed to struggle against Sri Lankan top-order with more right-handers attacking his wrong ‘un, was kept out of the attack.

He started with the young Riyan Parag (0/30 in 4 overs), who had 10 dot balls and five boundaries but was asked to just attack the stumps with occasional turn while Axar Patel (2/30 in 4 overs) continued with his wicket-to-wicket dart-like accuracy.

The ball gripped off the surface while travelling at a decent pace leaving batters confused whether to come forward or stay put on their stance.

Once Bishnoi came in, the change he made from the previous night of varying the pace of his googlies — fastest for Nissanka, slightly slower for Shanaka and flat and low for Hasaranga – was quite effective.

File photo of Indian cricket team.© AFP

Suffering a shocking defeat against Zimbabwe in the opening T20I of the five-match series, Shubman Gill-led Team India will be raring to make a comeback in the second game in Harare on Sunday. The visitors faltered while chasing a paltry target of 116 against Zimbabwe. The inexperience of the Indian batting line-up was quite evident as majority of the batters lost their wickets while trying to go for fancy shots. On the other hand, the Zimbabwe bowlers cashed in on the opportunity to create an upset. The hosts bowled out India for 102 runs in 19.3 overs.

Here is what we think could be India’s playing XI vs Zimbabwe in second T20I –

Shubman Gill: It was a bitter-sweet start for Gill in the series. He did a decent job with his captaincy, but he could have taken his innings deep during batting. With 31 off 29, Gill top-scored for India in the first T20I vs Zimbabwe.

Abhishek Sharma: It was a poor start for the swashbuckling southpaw. He was dismissed for a four-ball duck in his debut India game. He got out while trying to go for a big shot.

Ruturaj Gaikwad: A reliable Gaikwad, who batted at number 3 spot for India, failed with a score of 7 off 9 balls. He must be itching to prove his mettle.

Riyan Parag: The right-handed middle-order batter lost his wicket while going for a fancy shot. He should grab his chances in upcoming games.

Rinku Singh: The star finisher got out for a two-ball duck as the bounce of the Harare track got better of him.

Dhruv Jurel (wk): The wicketkeeper-batter got a chance ahead of Jitesh Sharma but failed to impressed in the game. Jurel never looked settled during his short stay at the crease.

Washington Sundar: An experienced campaigner Washington had a good outing as he picked two wickets and played a fighting knock of 27.

Ravi Bishnoi: The leg-spinner lived up to the expectations and returned with his career-best T20I figures of 4 for 13 against Zimbabwe.

Khaleel Ahmed: The left-arm pacer leaked runs over 9 per over and failed to take any wicket in the first T20I vs Zimbabwe.

Avesh Khan: The right-arm pacer was decent with the ball, returning figures of 1 for 29 in four overs.

Mukesh Kumar: He was economical during his spell. Mukesh bowled three overs and conceded 16 runs while taking a wicket.

LSG beat MI in their final league game in IPL 2024.© BCCI