England beat India in Rajkot to keep T20 series alive

England defeated India in their T20I clash in Rajkot on Tuesday, keeping the five-match series alive with a 29-run victory in game three.

Batting first, the visitors posted 171/9 thanks to a rapid-fire knock by Ben Duckett (51 from 28) at the top of the order.

Duckett found company from captain Jos Buttler (24 from 22) and Liam Livingstone (43 from 24) for the majority of his time at the crease.

The latter was key when England slipped to 127/8, working well alongside the bowlers to guide England to a competitive total.

Varun Chakravarthy was the pick of the Indian bowlers, taking 24/5 from his four overs — an effort which earned him the player-of-the-match award despite his side losing.

In response, India failed to gain any real momentum, with English spinner Adil Rashid giving away a miserly 15/1 from his four overs.

Hardik Pandya top scored with 40 from 35, while Abhishek Sharma (24 from 14) and Tilak Varma (18 from 14) contributed as well.

Regular wickets meant too much was left for the lower order to do, however, as the hosts spluttered to 145/9 from their 20 overs.

Speaking after the match, Buttler was pleased with his team’s performance with the ball in Rajkot.

“The guys bowled really well, nice to show off their skills,” he said.

“Adil — he’s the most important player in our team, so many variations, so many different styles of bowling, fortunate to have him in our team.

“Jofra (Archer) — don’t need to talk much about him — he’s a superstar, incredibly consistent, if he goes for 60 you know he’ll come back well.

“Ben Duckett is a difficult guy to stop, that’s why we felt he can do a job for us at the top.

“He played beautifully on what was a sticky pitch.

“170 was a very good score, those wickets were crucial in the powerplay.

“127/8 doesn’t bother me — if they say you can be disappointed with the way you play and score 170, I’ll take that.”

With the series sitting at 2-1 in India’s favour with two matches remaining, England’s odds of winning the five-match series have improved.

T20 cricket bookmakers are now paying +450 for the visitors to execute the reverse sweep, while India remain favourites at -714.29.

England head into the fourth T20 in Pune as underdogs at +150 with Bovada, while the hosts are returning -200 to win.

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