England overcame Varun Chakravarthy’s 5-24 to beat India by 26 runs in the third T20 to keep the series alive Tuesday.
Ben Duckett overcame his poor start to the five-match series to score 51 off 28 balls as England put on 171-9 in 20 overs. Chakravarthy picked his second five-wicket haul in T20s.
In reply, India was restricted to 145-9 (20 overs) as Jamie Overton picked 3-24 in four overs. The hosts lead the series 2-1.
Jofra Archer (2-33) and Brydon Carse (2-28) took a brace each.
India had won the first two T20s in Kolkata and Chennai by seven and two wickets, respectively. Pune will host the fourth T20 on Friday.
This was after India had won a third consecutive toss and opted to bowl again. The hosts made one change — Mohammed Shami made his long-awaited return to international cricket.
Shami last played in the 2023 Cricket World Cup and replaced left-arm pacer Arshdeep Singh in the Indian eleven. England fielded an unchanged side.
Put in to bat, Duckett was unperturbed as Phil Salt (5) fell cheaply for a third straight game.
Duckett struck seven fours and two sixes, putting on 76 off 45 balls for the second wicket with skipper Jos Buttler who scored 24 off 22 balls.
Chakravarthy got into the act by dismissing Buttler in the ninth over, and England was dealt another blow at the halfway stage as Axar Patel removed Duckett as well.
It became 108-4 in 12.4 overs as Harry Brook (8) was bowled off Ravi Bishnoi going for a sweep.
Liam Livingstone rediscovered his touch to score 43 off 24 balls and held the English innings together even as Chakravarthy attacked at the other end.
He dismissed Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton off successive balls in the 14th over. While denied a hat trick, he went on to pick his second five-for in six T20s.
Chakravarthy’s best of 5-17 had previously come against South Africa last November at Gqeberha — India lost that game by three wickets.
Livingstone hit five sixes and helped England to its highest total of the series – rescuing his side from a precarious 127-8 in 16 overs.
Chasing 172, India’s top order failed against the English pacers. Archer unsettled Sanju Samson once again — out caught for three.
Abhishek Sharma scored 24 off 14 with five fours but was caught off Carse in the fourth over. India was down to 48-3 as skipper Suryakumar Yadav fell for 14 against Mark Wood.
The turning point came when Adil Rashid bowled in-form Tilak Varma for 18 runs in the eighth over.
It left Hardik Pandya to hold the innings together and he tried, scoring 40 off 35 balls.
But India continued losing wickets at regular intervals with Washington Sundar (6), Axar Patel (15) and Dhruv Jurel (2) failing to score big.
Pandya hit two sixes but was out caught off Overton in the 19th over to signal an end for Indian hopes.
Press Release, Source: AP News
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