England Keep Series Alive with Clinical Bowling Display
England's disciplined bowling attack helped them to a 26-run victory over India in Rajkot, cutting India's lead to 2-1 in the five-match series.
Key Moments
- Ben Duckett's second T20I half-century helped England to a strong start, but Varun Chakravarthy's wily variations brought the visitors back into the game.
- Chakravarthy finished his four-over spell with five wickets to his credit, including the key wickets of Jamie Smith and Jofra Archer.
- Fellow spinners Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi also played a crucial role in throwing England off their momentum.
- Liam Livingstone's late assault offered some respite for England, but he departed in the next over.
India's Struggles
- India's early assault by Abhishek Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav was undone by the dismissal of the duo along with Sanju Samson.
- Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma handled the situation calmly, but the Indian batters were put to test against Adil Rashid's spin.
- Rashid finished an excellent spell, conceding only 15 runs, and used his variations in pace to excellent effect.
Brief Scores
- England 171/9 in 20 overs (Ben Duckett 51, Liam Livingstone 43; Varun Chakravarthy 5-24, Hardik Pandya 2-33)
- India 145/9 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 40, Abhishek Sharma 24; Jamie Overton 3-24, Brydon Carse 2-28)