England beat India in Rajkot T20I to stay alive: Stats
What's the story
England beat India in the 3rd T20I to stage a comeback in the five-match series.
The visitors successfully defended 171 after restricting India to 145/9. It was a concerted bowling effort from the Englishmen.
Ben Duckett and Liam Livingstone did the bulk of scoring for England, while Varun Chakravarthy's fifer went in vain.
With this, England stay alive in the five-match series (1-2).
England summary
Livingstone helps England recover after middle-over collapse
England had a steady start after they were invited to bat by India.
While Mohammed Shami, who made a comeback after 14 months, started India's proceedings, Hardik Pandya dismissed Philip Salt early on.
However, half-centurion Duckett added 76 runs with Jos Buttler.
Chakravarhy took over thereafter, bringing England down to 127/8. The visitors were then bolstered (171/9) by Livingstone's 24-ball 43.
India summary
India fall 26 runs short
India's top-order struggle was evident as Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma departed in the Powerplay.
Suryakumar Yadav played a couple of elegant strokes but fell to Mark Wood. After two overs, Adil Rashid knocked Tilak Varma over with a magnificent delivery.
Washington Sundar also didn't disturb the scorers much. Pandya (40) and Axar Patel (15) paired up thereafter, but India fell 26 runs short.
Duckett
Duckett slams a 26-ball fifty
Duckett was responsible for the majority of England's score in the Powerplay. The likes of Axar and Chakravarthy managed to keep Duckett quite relatively.
The pressure mounted on him resulted in his dismissal, though he crossed the 50-run mark.
Duckett, who scored a 26-ball fifty, fell to Axar in the 10th over. He slammed 51 off 28 balls (4s-7 and 6s-2).
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Duckett's second T20I fifty
Duckett has raced to his second half-century in T20I cricket. Although the left-hander made his T20I debut in 2019, he is yet to cement his spot in England's T20I XI. He has raced to 373 runs from 15 T20Is at an average of under 30.
Breakthrough
Chakravarthy once again gets Buttler
One of India's first major breakthroughs came in the form of skipper Jos Buttler.
The England skipper, who has been among the runs, was dismissed by Chakravarthy in the ninth over. He smashed a 22-ball 24.
Buttler has fallen to the Indian spinner as many as four times in seven T20 innings. The England skipper has a strike-rate of 158.33 against Chakravarthy.
Fifer
Second T20I fifer for Chakravarthy
After dismissing Buttler, Chakravarthy got rid of Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, and Jofra Archer to get his five-wicket haul.
The Indian spinner conceded just 24 runs in four overs.
Chakravarthy recorded his second five-wicket haul in T20I cricket, having taken his first against South Africa. He now has 29 wickets from 16 T20Is at an average of 14.75.
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Third Indian with this feat
Chakravarthy has become the third Indian to record multiple five-wicket hauls in T20I cricket. He has joined Kuldeep Yadav and Bhuvneshwar Kumar on this elite list. Notably, Chakravarthy has converted each of his four-fers into fifers.
Bowling
Three wickets for Overton
Bowling all-rounder Jamie Overton was the pick of England's bowlers in the match. He took the crucial wickets of Sundar, Pandya, and lastly Mohammed Shami.
Overton conceded 24 runs in four overs for England.
Meanwhile, Archer and Brydon Carse snapped up two wickets apiece.
Leg-spinner Adil Rashid bowled a stunning spell, having conceded just 15 runs from four overs (10 dot balls).