England’s bowlers inspired a 26-run win in the third T20 international against India in Rajkot that keeps the five-match series alive, the tourists trailing 2-1.
Another ugly England batting collapse against spin – Varun Chakravarthy taking 5-24 to take his tally to 10 wickets across the opening three games – saw Jos Buttler’s side staring at a series defeat with two to play as the visitors slumped from 83-1 to 127-8 before a late flurry from Liam Livingstone (43 off 24 balls).
But, defending 172 on what appeared to be an ideal batting track, England’s attack shared the wickets among themselves to impressively restrict India to only 146-9 in reply – Adil Rashid the standout with figures of 1-15 from his four overs, which included the key wicket of Tilak Varma (18) bowled by a perfect leg break.
India will have another opportunity to clinch an early series victory when the sides meet again for the fourth T20 in Pune on Friday, with England eyeing back-to-back wins to tie things up and take it to a decider in Mumbai on Sunday.
England collapse from 83-1 sparks concern for series
After India won the toss and elected to field first, Phil Salt’s poor tour continued as he perished for five in the second over of the innings to Hardik Pandya (2-33).
Ben Duckett and Jos Buttler quickly repaired things for the tourists, putting on 76 together for the second wicket and at a rapid rate too, Duckett particularly impressive in cracking a 26-ball fifty – his second in T20 internationals.
The wicket of England captain Jos Buttler at the end of the ninth over triggered a collapse from 83-1 to 127-8
The captain was a touch more scratchy at the other end and his innings of 24 from 22 balls was ended off the final ball of the ninth over, to trigger the England collapse – Buttler gone to Varun on review when a fine edge on an attempted reverse-sweep was detected by DRS, Sanju Samson taking a sharp catch behind the stumps.
Duckett (51 off 28) departed in the very next over, while Harry Brook’s sorry series continued with a third low score as he was bowled by Ravi Bishnoi (1-46) for eight when dragging a wide ball back onto his stumps.
Ben Duckett was a standout performer with the bat as he struck his second half-century in T20 internationals
Jamie Smith (6) and Jamie Overton (0) were then cleaned up in back-to-back deliveries to see Varun on a hat-trick, and though Brydon Carse safely negotiated that delivery, both he and Jofra Archer too perished to the spinner in his next over as he clinched his second five-wicket haul in T20Is.
England were reeling at 127-8 after 16 overs at that stage, but Livingstone targeted Bishnoi’s next, striking three of his five sizeable sixes for his innings off the next four deliveries.
Although his cameo was ended by Hardik soon after, those crucial runs, along with a tidy 24-run stand from final pair Rashid (10no) and Mark Wood (10no) helped lift England to what ultimately proved to be a match-winning total.
England’s bowlers step up to defend stiff target
The extra pace of Archer (2-33), Carse (2-28) and Wood (1-29) proved pontent in the opening powerplay of India’s reply, each grabbing a wicket apiece to reduce the hosts to 48-3.
Jofra Archer celebrates one of his two wickets with captain Jos Buttler
Any giddy excitement elicited from England’s players would have been tempered by the sight of Tilak still at the crease, fresh from hitting an unbeaten 318 across his previous four T20 international innings, including a magnificent 72 off 55 balls that saw his side home in the second match of the series.
But up stepped Rashid, finally seeing off the classy left-handed operater with the perfect leg break delivery to beat his defences in the eighth over.
Adil Rashid claimed the key wicket of the in-from Tilak Varma for 18
India offered very little resistance in the run chase thereafter, with the exception of 40 from 35 deliveries struck by Hardik before he ultimately perished to start the 19th over, searching for some lusty blows as the home side fell badly below the rate.
Overton took Hardik’s wicket as he finished with impressive figures of 3-23 from his four overs, while Archer and Carse too chimed in with a couple more as reward for their efforts.
What they said: ‘Rashid gets better like red wine’
England captain Jos Buttler: “The guys bowled really well, it was nice to see them show off their skills.
“Adil [Rashid] is the most important player in our team. He was fantastic tonight. He has so many variations, so many different styles of bowling, so we are fortunate to have him in our team.
“With the bat, Ben Duckett is a difficult guy to stop, that’s why we felt he can do a job for us at the top. He played beautifully on what was a little bit of a sticky pitch.”
India captain Suryakumar Yadav:
“Credit goes to Adil. I think he bowled really well in his overs.
“We wanted to rotate the strike and he didn’t let us… that’s why he’s a world-class bowler. That’s something for us to learn and take forward.
“When we were bowling, we had them 127-8 and they got 171. That was too much at the end. And from a batting point of view we’ve got to go back to the drawing board and see how we can be better.”
Former India player and coach Ravi Shastri, speaking to TNT Sports: “Full marks to England for the way they bowled.
“They attacked the stumps and went for yorkers, while Adil Rashid is like red wine, he gets better and better.
“England have still not played to their potential with the bat. If they do, we could have a crackerjack couple of games.”
England in India – results and fixtures
All times UK and Ireland
- First T20: Wednesday January 22 – Eden Gardens, Kolkata – India won by seven wickets
- Second T20: Saturday January 25 – MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai – India won by two wickets
- Third T20: Tuesday January 28 – Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot – England won by 26 runs
- Fourth T20: Friday January 31 (1.30pm) – Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
- Fifth T20: Sunday February 2 (1.30pm) – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai
- First ODI: Thursday February 6 (8am) – Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
- Second ODI: Sunday February 9 (8am) – Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
- Third ODI: Wednesday February 12 (8am) – Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
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