England bowlers, led by a masterful spell from Adil Rashid, held their nerve to deliver a comprehensive 26-run victory over India in their pursuit of 172 runs in the third T2OI at the Niranjan Shah Stadium to help break India's ten-match unbeaten run at home.
The disciplined and strategic bowling performance allowed England to narrow down the score to 1-2 and keep alive their hopes in the series.
Earlier in the day, India won the toss and decided to bowl on a surface offering grip and turn. England's innings got off to a mixed start, with opening batsman Ben Duckett boosting the innings with a blistering 51 off 28 balls.
His strokeplay-though was mostly against the pacers-set the tone early. Liam Livingstone provided the middle-order thrust with a spirited knock of 43 off 24 balls, featuring some clean strikes over the boundary.
The rest of the English batting fell for the guile of Varun Chakravarthy, though. The mystery spinner dismantled the English middle and lower order, with a career best 5 for 24 in support from Hardik Pandya (2-33) and Axar Patel.
For all the wickets England lost at regular intervals, their tail wagged enough to drag it to 171 for 9—a competitive score on a tricky surface.
India played 172 cautiously. Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma came to open. The English pacers, led by Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, went on to deliver probing lines in a bid to control the rate at which the game was unfolding.
Sanju Samson's attempt to play a big shot did not pay off, and he found himself cramped for room. He chipped a simple catch to Adil Rashid and left the pavilion for 3.
Abhishek Sharma was promising with a flurry of boundaries, including back-to-back fours off Mark Wood.
However, his aggression led to his downfall as he mistimed a big hit off Brydon Carse. Jofra Archer's brilliant running catch sent him packing for a quickfire 24 off 14 balls, leaving India at 35/2. Skipper Suryakumar Yadav walked in and briefly lifted India's hopes with his trademark flair.
A six over fine-leg and a boundary off Archer had the fans cheering, but his attempt to scoop Mark Wood resulted in a top-edge to the keeper, ending his cameo at 14 off 7 balls.
All-rounder Hardik Pandya and hero of India's win in the second T20I, Tilak Varma, took on the rebuilding task but England's spinners, especially Rashid, kept the pressure on.
The variations of Rashid foxed the Indian batters and eventually got the better of Tilak for 18 off 14 balls.
By the halfway mark, India were reeling at 78/4, needing 94 runs from the remaining 10 overs.
Washington Sundar joined Hardik Pandya but the boundaries dried up as England's bowlers tightened their grip.
Sundar found it tough to rotate the strike and eventually chipped a slower delivery from Jamie Overton straight to Jos Buttler. A scratchy innings of 6 off 15 balls by Sundar left India in a precarious position at 86/5 after 13 overs.
At 72 runs from the remaining five overs, Hardik and Axar Patel attempted acceleration against the disciplined bowling of England. Brydon Carse's 16th over came up for just seven runs, which included Axar clipping one through the field to the mid-wicket fence. Mark Wood's 17th over briefly revitalized the Indians.
Pandya hit a monstrous six down the ground off long-on and then had a boundary, which momentarily lifted the cause of India.
However, England struck back in the 18th over when Jofra Archer removed Axar Patel for 15 off 16 balls, leaving Hardik with an uphill task.
Jamie Overton sealed the match for England in the 19th over. Pandya mistimed a lofted shot off a slower delivery, offering a simple catch to Buttler at long-on.
His valiant knock of 40 off 35 balls ended India’s chances of a miraculous comeback. Overton's over yielded just seven runs and 34 remained off the final over.
Brydon Carse wrapped up the proceedings with a great final over, where he send Dhruv Jurel back off the first ball. India managed to end at 145 for 7, short by 26 runs.
Brief scores:
England 171/9 in 20 overs (Ben Duckett 51, Liam Livingstone 43, Varun Chakravarthy 5-24, Hardik Pandya 2-33) beats India 145/9 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 40, Abhishek Sharma 24; Jamie Overton 3-24, Brydon Crase 2-24) by 26 runs.
Read also| Watch| Kohli Joins Delhi's Training Camp Ahead of Ranji Trophy Comeback
Read also| IPL 2025 Set to Begin on March 21, No Major Rule Changes, Confirms Chairman Dhumal