England beat India to keep T20 series alive

England had lost their four previous T20 internationals against India in India

Third T20, Rajkot

England 171-9 (20 overs): Duckett 51 (28); Chakravarthy 5-24

India 145-9 (20 overs): Pandya 40 (35); Overton 3-24

England win by 26 runs; India lead five-match series 2-1

Scorecard

England produced a strong bowling performance to beat India by 26 runs in Rajkot and keep the T20 series alive.

Having lost the opening two matches of the five-match series, England had to win the third T20 to avoid defeat at the earliest opportunity.

Ben Duckett struck a 28-ball 51 and Liam Livingstone hit fives sixes in his 43 from 21 as England made what appeared to be a below-par 171-9 on a decent surface.

But a superb display from their bowling line-up kept India behind the rate and the home side fell well short of their target as they finished on 145-9.

Having been put into bat, Duckett helped the tourists start positively as they reached 83-1 in the ninth over.

But the innings turned in India's favour when Buttler was judged caught behind on review for 24, and Duckett holed out to mid-wicket off the bowling of Axar Patel in the following over.

Buttler was the first victim of Varun Chakravarthy, with the leg-spinner bowling superbly to take 5-24 as England lost 8-60.

India lost wickets steadily through their innings, while Jamie Overton, who took 3-24, was the pick of five England bowlers who took wickets.

Hardik Pandya marshalled the second half of India's innings, but his sluggish 40 from 35 failed to swing the match back in the hosts' favour.

When he was caught by Buttler at long-on off Overton the match was over at a contest, and England closed out the win to still have a chance of a series victory.

The fourth match of the series is in Pune on Friday (13:30 GMT).

England's bowlers keep control

Playing on a pitch that looked good for a score of 200 or more, India's target of 172 looked eminently chaseable.

But England's seamers made early in-roads in the powerplay, as the hosts finished their first six overs on 51-3.

Jofra Archer had Sanju Samson caught at mid-on by Adil Rashid and then made a superb tumbling catch to remove Abhishek Sharma off the bowling of Brydon Carse.

Mark Wood was the third fast bowler to strike, India captain Suryakumar Yadav skewing the ball into orbit before it dropped into the gloves of Phil Salt, who had taken over as wicketkeeper after Jamie Smith went off injured.

Tilak Varma made an unbeaten 72 in the last match to take India to victory, but Rashid bowled him for 18 on the way to a superb 1-15 from four overs, while Overton had Washington Sundar caught by Buttler at mid-on for six to leave the home side 85-5 in the 13th over.

Pandya batted with Axar Patel for 31 balls, putting on 48, but Archer removed the left-arm spinner to leave India needing 49 from 16 deliveries.

Pandya struck Archer for six two balls later but had left himself far too much to do.

Tourists still have work to do

Phil Salt has made scores of nought, four and five in this series

England will take heart from their victory but there were still familiar failings for Brendon McCullum's side as they continued to struggle against India's battery of spinners.

They have now lost 18 wickets to turning deliveries in this series, a record for England in T20 series, beating the 14 they twice lost to New Zealand in 2019 and 2023.

Harry Brook has rarely hit a speedbump in his international career, but was bowled cheaply by a spinner for a third match in a row, under-edging onto his stumps for eight off Ravi Bishnoi.

The Yorkshire batter, who is averaging 12.66 in the series, was one of six England batters in their top nine who was dismissed for single figures.

Jamie Smith, who impressed on debut in Chennai, became the first of four successive Chakravarthy wickets, caught by Dhruv Jurel at mid-wicket.

Overton was bowled around his legs from the following delivery before Carse found Varma at square leg and Archer had his stumps uprooted by a ball that spun hard.

Two wickets from seamer Pandya book-ended the seven lost to spin, with the right-armer taking the opening wicket when Phil Salt drove straight to Abhishek Sharma.

The England opener's score of five was his best of the series, and he has not made it past the second over of an innings.

Pandya removed Livingstone, but not before the all-rounder had got stuck in with customary gusto, including three sixes from one Bishnoi over, scoring the runs that ultimately took England to victory, while Rashid and Wood also shared a vital stand of 24.

'We are so fortunate to have Rashid' - reaction

England captain Jos Buttler: "You could look at we lost wickets in clumps but we had 170 on the board, which is a really good score.

"I love the way we kept taking the game on. If you can be disappointed in how you play and get 170 that is a great effort."

On spinner Adil Rashid: "He is the most important player in our team. He bowled fantastically tonight, has so many variations and styles of bowling. We are so fortunate to have him on our team."

India captain Suryakumar Yadav: "With Hardik and Axar in we still had the game in our hands. Credit goes to Adil [Rashid], he bowled really well. We wanted to rotate the strike. That is why he is a world class bowler.

"You always learn something from a T20 game. We let them get too much at the end."