England staged a strong comeback in the third T20I against India, winning by 26 runs at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot. The victory helped England keep the five-match series alive, with India leading 2-1. Despite an impressive bowling effort by India’s Varun Chakravarthy, England’s disciplined performance ensured they defended their total of 171/9 successfully.
1. England’s Innings: Duckett and Livingstone Shine
The Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav elected to bowl first after winning the toss. The English openers started cautiously; in fact, Salt got out after scoring just 12. The next opener Duckett took responsibility and was aggressive throughout his 51 off 28 balls with some trademark classy boundaries that were almost a treat to watch.
Jos Buttler added support (26 off 21) before getting dismissed.
Varun Chakravarthy’s brilliance (5/24) turned the tables in India’s favor, breaking the middle order.
Liam Livingstone (43 off 24) played a late cameo to take England to 171/9 in 20 overs.
England, losing wickets at regular intervals, still managed a competitive total due to valuable contributions from Adil Rashid and Mark Wood, who added 10 runs each in the final overs.
2. India’s Chase Falters Despite Strong Start
India began aggressively through Abhishek Sharma’s strike of 22 runs off 12 balls but the ploy found a quick response from the bowlers. The top order could not grind out considerable alliances as none of the first four batters scored more than 24 runs.
Hardik Pandya (40 off 35) was the lone crusader, who kept the innings afloat.
Axar Patel (15 off 13) attempted to support Pandya but could not continue the momentum.
Discipline bowling by Jamie Overton and Adil Rashid built consistent pressure.
India found it hard to accelerate the last overs of the match with wickets tumbling. When Pandya fell to Overton, bowled to Buttler in the 19th over, it was just too much to ask, and India finished at 145/9 in 20 overs.
3. Irfan Pathan’s Comments on India’s Loss
Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan pointed out the overriding issue in India’s approach: that they needed to rotate the strike on a slightly slower wicket. He asserted that India “left too much for too late in the end,” which contributed to their downfall.
With this win, England have kept the series alive and reduced India’s lead to 2-1. The fourth T20I will be played in Pune on January 31, 2025, where India will look to seal the series, while England will look to force a decider in the final match.