England managed to keep the series alive on the back of a solid bowling performance. They recorded a 26-run win in the third T20I against India in Rajkot.
At the halfway point, it seemed like the same script was repeating with the England batters not being able to capitalize on starts and the Indian spinners ruling the roost. However, the England bowlers backed up a good bowling show from Chennai and continued the same in Rajkot to help them make a comeback in the series.
Suryakumar Yadav won his third toss in a row in the series and sent England into bat, like the last two T20Is. Mohammed Shami finally made a comeback as he replaced Arshdeep Singh who was rested. England were unchanged and they came out all guns blazing.
Phil Salt’s poor run continued as he hit a Hardik Pandya delivery straight to cover. However, despite losing an early wicket, Ben Duckett shifted the pressure back onto the Indian bowlers. He counter-attacked magnificently. He struck Shami for a six in the third over before taking Pandya for three consecutive fours in the fourth. The left-handed opener got stuck into Washington Sundar as well, hitting the off-spinner for two fours and a six.
England raced to 52/1 at the end of the powerplay before skipper Jos Buttler joined the party with a four and a six off Ravi Bishnoi. Just when the partnership was looking threatening, Varun Chakravarthy got a much-needed breakthrough for India. He had Buttler caught-behind as the latter nicked to the keeper while attempting a reverse-sweep.
That wicket triggered a collapse. Chakravarthy led the way for the Indian spinners but found able support from Bishnoi and Axar Patel. England slumped from 83/1 to 127/8 in the span of seven overs.
Duckett got to fifty in the following over after Buttler’s dismissal but holed out at long-on soon after. Harry Brook, Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer all went back to the hut in a jiffy as England’s frailties against spin continued. Chakravarthy completed his second T20I fifer and finished with figures of 5/24 from four overs. Liam Livingstone smoked Bishnoi for three sixes in an over to push England’s score close to 150 before the last wicket pair of Mark Wood and Adil Rashid added 24 runs in 17 balls. That helped England get to 171 in 20 overs.
India keep losing wickets and never seemed to be in the run-chase
Chasing under nine runs an over, Abhishek Sharma started with a flurry of boundaries but India lost three wickets in the powerplay. Sanju Samson was the first to go as Jofra Archer accounted for him for the third time in the series. The Kerala wicket-keeper batter was once again out on the short ball while Sharma skied one off Carse and Archer took an excellent
high catch.
Skipper Suryakumar Yadav walked in and looked like regaining form as he struck a six and a four in the 5th over. But Wood got rid of him in the 6th over to leave India in trouble at 48/3. Last game’s hero Tilak Varma was dismissed for the first time in five innings as Adil Rashid bowled a beauty to knock him over. The left-hander was dismissed for 18 and India were
reeling at 68/4 in eight overs at that stage.
Hardik Pandya and Washington Sundar tried resurrecting the innings but just couldn’t get the boundaries. Rashid bowled an excellent spell as he found good turn and bounce and the Indian batters seemed to be happy to play him out. Pandya and Sundar played out four overs and added just 17 runs before the latter hit one straight to mid-off to give Overton his first wicket. Sundar faced 15 balls for his 6 before he was dismissed.
There was a period of six overs where India couldn’t find the fence and the required rate mounted up. 82 runs were required off the last six overs when Pandya (batting on 14 off 21) finally got his first boundary of the night. Axar couldn’t get the big hits away either and it was only in the 17th over when India fetched a 14-run over to reduce the equation to 50 off the last three overs.
Axar fell in the 18th over before Pandya holed out on the first ball of the 19th which was the final nail in the coffin. Overton finished with three wickets while Carson and Archer shared two each. However, it was Rashid who was England’s best bowler of the day with figures of 1/15 from four overs.
England eventually picked up a 26-run win and remained alive in the five-match T20I series. Varun Chakravarthy was the player of the match for his five-wicket haul.
BRIEF SCORES: England 171/9 (Ben Duckett 51, Liam Livingstone 43; Varun Chakravarthy 5/24, Hardik Pandya 2/33) beat India 145/9 (Hardik Pandya 40, Abhishek Sharma 24, Jamie Overton 3/24, Brydon Carse 2/28, Jofra Archer 2/33) by 26 runs.
