England won the third T20I by 26 runs in Rajkot as they pulled one back to keep the series alive. Their bowlers ensured they restricted the Indian bowlers from reaching the target of 172 runs.
India won the toss and opted to bowl first. Varun Chakravarthy took 5/24 and broke the back of the England batting lineup. Phil Salt was again dismissed early in this game./ Ben Duckett scored a free-flowing 51 and added 76 runs with Jos Buttler (24).
England from 83/2 lost wickets in a cluster and was 147/9 when Liam Livingstone was dismissed in the 18th over. He played a good hand of 43 off 24 balls with five sixes. This was also the period when Varun got all his five wickets including the big wicket of Jos Buttler.
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Tilak Varma's Dismissal By Adil Rashid Turning Point In The Game
However, it was the partnership between Adil Rashid and Mark Wood that took England to 171. Apart from Varun's fifer, Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel took a wicket each. Hardik Pandya took a couple of wickets.
India lost the wicket of Sanju Samson early in the chase once again. Abhishek Sharma scored a quick-fire 24 off 14 balls but he also perished. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav was dismissed on 14 off seven balls as his poor form in the format continues. He has scored just two fifties since becoming India's full-time T20I skipper and has not aggregated 500 runs so far.
Tilak Varma who was the matchwinner in the last game was cleaned up by Adil Rashid which was a big breakthrough in the game. Hardik Pandya scored 40 off 35 balls and found himself fighting a lone battle in the final overs. Washington Sundar, Axar Patel and Dhruv Jurel did not contribute with anything substantial.
It was once again the England pacers that did the job as a team. Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse took two wickets each. Jamie Overtok took three wickets including those of Sundar and Hardik to derail the Indian innings in the final overs. Rashid dismissing Tilak Varma was the game for England.
Varun Chakravarthy was named as the Player Of The Match. However, it was England who prevailed in the game and defended their total of 171. Buttler lauded his bowlers for coming together as a group.
"The guys bowled really well, was nice to show-off their skills. Not about how fast they can bowl, but how well they can adapt to the wicket. He's the most important player in our team, we are fortunate to have Rashid in the team. He has all variations. Jofra is consistent, he won't go for sixes often, but he will come back for sure if he does. I think the wicket looked different. Buttler said in the post-match presentation" said Buttler in the post-match presentation.
The series is very well set up with the final two games to be played in Pune (January 31) and Mumbai (February 2)
