India posted a competitive 190/7 in their 20 overs against England in the second T20I at Manchester on Saturday, thanks to fluent knocks from Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, and a late surge from Tilak Varma that added 23 runs off the final seven balls.
India opt to bat after winning toss
Winning the toss and electing to bat first, India openers Abhishek Sharma and teenage debutant Vaibhav Sooryavanshi provided an aggressive start against disciplined English bowling. Sooryavanshi, at 15 years and 99 days, became the youngest player to represent India across all formats and the youngest debutant from a Test-playing nation in T20I history. He smashed 14 off 10 balls with two sixes before being stumped off Will Jacks.
Abhishek Sharma then took charge, hammering a brisk 43 to give India a flying start in the powerplay before falling to Sam Curran.
Kishan and Iyer anchor the innings
After the early breakthroughs, Ishan Kishan anchored the innings with a fluent 49, while captain Shreyas Iyer contributed a quickfire 37 off 22 balls, including a six off Liam Dawson, as the pair stitched together a valuable partnership to keep the scoreboard moving.
However, England pulled things back in the latter half of the innings with regular wickets and tight bowling from Liam Dawson, Will Jacks, and Sam Curran, preventing India from fully capitalising on their strong start.
Late drama and Tilak Varma's assault
Things got worse for India as Axar Patel's innings ended in an unfortunate run out in the 19th over after Jos Buttler aimed for the stumps at the striker's end but hit the stumps at the bowler's end, forcing Patel to return. However, Tilak Varma pulled things back in the final over, smashing Jofra Archer for 17 runs before the speedster removed Harshit Rana on the last ball of the innings.
For England, Sam Curran scalped 3 wickets, while Liam Dawson, Will Jacks, and Jofra Archer chipped in with a wicket each.
