IND vs ENG

So the series is not finished yet. A fantastic bowling performance from England have ensured that the series is still alive with two more games go. India have to go back to the drawing board and analyse what didn't go their way in this particular match. Both batting units won't be be too pleased with how they batted today. For England, it's about facing quality spin and for the home team, it's about understanding the situation and targetting certain bowlers rather than going for shot after shot. We might see a change in combination in the next game as far as India is concerned. A lot of cricketing action lined up tomorrow as well but for now, this is myself (Arya Sekhar Chakraborty) signing off also on behalf of my fellow commentator and good friend Pradeep. Goodnight fellas!

Varun Chakravarthy is the Player of the Match, here is what he had to say: I do have space for the trophies I am winning. Definitely sad we didn't win the match but you have to move on and get ready for the next match. Ofcourse when you are playing cricket for the country you have to take a certain accountability. I don't complain as Surya has bowled me four on a trot. I am mentally ready for anything he asks. I have been working on the flippers and it coming out well. Maybe on this stage yes this is the best I have bowled.

Jos Buttler (England captain): Yeah the guys bowled really well. It's not about how fast they can bowl but how they can adapt. Yeah Rashid keeps getting better. He is one of the most important players in the team. We are very lucky to have him on our side with the variations he has. Jofra Archer is a superstar and not often he goes for 60. Ben Duckett batted beautifully. I think from ball one the wicket looked a bit different from how everyone predicted. 170 on the board was a really good score as there was something on the pitch and then managed to squeeze them. It's a great effort to get disappointed despite scoring 170.

Suryakumar Yadav [India captain]: I felt there'll be a little bit of dew, when Hardik and Axar we were still in the game. credit goes to Adil, he bowled exceptionally well, he didn't allow the strike rotation. He's a world class bowler, we need to learn from it and move on. That's why we had lot of spinners in our side. You always learn from a T20 game, when we were bowling, we let them off the hook to 170, something for us to learn. From a batting point of view, lot of things to correct. It's good to see him bowl, I'm sure he'll do better going forward. Nothing just be yourself, he's been one guy who's been working very hard during practice sessions, he's got discipline. Really looking forward to Pune.

Adil Rashid [England]: I thought as a team we bowled exceptionally welly. That ball gripped and turned, went through the gates, as a unit we bowled really well. As you play more, you get more experience, you develop more in your armory. Try and adjust as you see the pitch, we've worked in the nets. Hopefully I can continue on. When we were batting, it was slow and kept low, wasn't coming on that well. We had to adjust that when we came on to bowl, we varied it well and it worked out for us. We had a couple of overs left, me and Woody were in the end, nice to get to that score. Overall we're quite happy.

10:30 PM local time (10:30 PM IST)

England won by 26 runs

Ben Duckett 51 (28) | Jamie Overton 3/24(4)
Hardik Pandya 40(35) | Varun Chakravarthy 5/24(4)

England has managed to keep the series alive with a stunning bowling performance as they managed to restrict India to an under-par score of 145 in their allotted 20 overs. Despite their below-par effort with the bat, the bowlers stood up and delivered when it mattered the most. It sets up the series perfectly with India still in the lead with a 2-1 advantage. On a surface where 200 looked a par score, India started well with Abhishek Sharma again showing glimpses of what he is capable of. 

However, his partner Sanju Samson was troubled by the short delivery again from Jofra Archer and he ended up clofting it straight to the mid-on fielder. Abhishek smashed a couple of fours of Brydon Carse before going for one shot too many and perishing in the process. Suryakumar Yadav looked to keep the momentum going but failed to make a significant contribution as he top-edged an attempted trademark lap shot straight down the throat of Phil Salt behind the stumps. 

The pair of Tilak Varma and Hardik Pandya tried to resurrect the chase and shared a 20-run stand. Tilak again looked very comfortable out in the middle before Adil Rashid managed to turn one back viciously to rattle the stumps of Tilak. From there on, it was a downward slide for India as they couldn't quite get any momentum whatsoever. Hardik and Washington wasted deliveries in the middle overs which allowed the pressure to build resulting in Sundar’s wicket in the 13th over. 

Axar Patel also struggled his way to a 16-ball 15 while Hardik tried his best to get the boundaries going. He lost his shape on quite a few occasions which resulted in false strokes. He managed to strike some lusty blows towards the end but the equation turned out to be just too much for his liking. Following his departure in the 19th over, the writing was on the wall. Jamie Overton held his nerves and bowled a splendid spell, securing three wickets for just 24 runs.

Jos Buttler will be very proud of how their bowlers responded after another below par showing with the bat. They showed glimpses of their prowess while batting but was certainly 15 runs short of where they needed to be. However the fast bowlers in addition to Adil Rashid had other ideas. They bowled brilliantly as India made heavy weather of the chase. A 26 run victory has kept the series alive. 

19.6 Brydon Carse to Ravi Bishnoi, FOUR! ENGLAND WIN! It's a comprehensive win in the end for England as they register the first win of the series to make it 2-1 and they keep the series alive! It's a full toss, Bishnoi makes decent connection, smacked it through extra-cover. Despairing dive from the fielder but not good enough, beats him to the ropes.

19.4 Brydon Carse to Ravi Bishnoi, too full in the channel, Bishnoi drilled it to covers and Chakravarthy thought there was a single on and took off. Fielder has a shy at the stumps and misses, Chakravarthy gets back.

19.3 Brydon Carse to Varun Chakravarthy, change of pace, back of a length on middle and leg. Chakravarthy swipes early, toe ends it down to long-on for one.

19.1 Brydon Carse to Dhruv Jurel, OUT! SCOOPED STRAIGHT UP AND TAKEN! India falling like a pack of cards here. Full toss outside the off-stump, Jurel walks across off-stump, loses the balance and spooned it straight up. Salt takes a simple catch. India lose their ninth wicket.

Dhruv Jurel c Philip Salt b Jamie Overton 2 (4b, 0x4, 0x6) 

Two wickets falling in that over with Hardik Pandya and Mohammed Shami back in the hut. A very good over from Overton yet again under pressure and India still need 32 more runs from the final over which doesn't seem to be a realistic chance. This performance from England sets up the series perfectly.