Sooryavanshi's Debut Ends in Whimper, India Reach 190/7
Vaibhav Sooryavanshi's much-awaited and massively hyped debut ended in a whimper, but India, riding on Tilak Varma's last-over heroics, managed a decent 190 for 7 against England in overcast, windy conditions during the second T20 International here on Saturday. The 15-year-old debutant, who broke Sachin Tendulkar's nearly 37-year-old record, lasted only 10 balls, scoring 14 runs with two sixes and a couple of singles before being stumped by Jos Buttler off off-spinner Will Jacks.
Tilak Varma's Late Flourish Lifts India
Tilak Varma (24 not out off 11 balls), whose batting approach has been heavily criticised, smashed Jofra Archer (1/40 in 4 overs) for 17 runs in the 20th over to take India to a respectable total, even though it might have been slightly below the par score of 200. The extra bounce and cross winds on a skiddy surface made batting difficult, as the world saw the first glimpse of the teenage prodigy at the international stage.
Top Order Contributions but Lack of Dominance
Abhishek Sharma (43 off 24 balls), skipper Shreyas Iyer (37 off 22 balls), and Ishan Kishan (49 off 43 balls) all scored some runs but only looked comfortable in patches, with England bowlers mixing it up quite nicely. Kishan, in particular, was exceptionally scratchy, failing to pick the slower deliveries and altered length ones bowled by the spinners. While Archer's sheer pace and the bounce extracted off the surface had Abhishek in all sorts of trouble at the onset, seamer Sam Curran's (3/33 in 4 overs) pace-off strategy and assortment of slower variations made life difficult for Indian batters post power play.
England Bowlers Impress with Variations
Jacks (1/22 in 3 overs) and left-arm spinner Liam Dawson (1/27 in 3 overs) ended with good figures. Even Adil Rashid (0/21 in 2 overs) wasn't exactly taken to the cleaners, as boundaries were hard to come by. In his first 12 balls, Abhishek played and missed around 10 of them. Archer cranked it up to 90 miles per hour, pitching it on hard length and getting it to deviate away.
Sooryavanshi's Brief Innings
At the other end, even Sooryavanshi struggled to cope with the extra bounce but got a six each—first when Archer tried to cramp him for room and the left-hander played a no-look whip-scoop behind for a six. The shot against Josh Tongue was a more familiar IPL-type hoick over long-on. However, England skipper Harry Brook rightly introduced Jacks, who bowled a wide loopy off-break which Sooryavanshi jumped out and missed by a foot and a half to get stumped.
Abhishek and Iyer-Kishan Partnership
Abhishek, after an initial play-and-miss phase, got his mojo back against bowlers with comparatively lesser pace than Archer. It was still hitting through the line that got him to 43, as he played the field admirably, targeting the shorter side. He should be cursing his luck when his snap flick off a Curran full-toss went straight to Tom Banton stationed at least 15 metres inside the mid-wicket boundary. Iyer and Kishan added 65 for the third wicket, but even their biggest supporters won't claim that they could dominate the England attack during those middle overs. Iyer, though, was a bit better trying to use his feet, but the bigger dimensions of the Old Trafford ground made boundary scoring difficult.
