Rajkot: In the 3rd T20I of the five-match series at the Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot, England beat India by 26 runs. Batting first, the visitors scored 171 runs, and then the bowlers caved the host’s innings for just 145/9.
This was India’s first defeat at the venue since October 2016; the last T20I defeat at Rajkot came against New Zealand in November 2017. The harsh conditions ultimately proved too much for the Indian batters, although Hardik Pandya fought hard towards the end.
Ben Duckett led England’s charge with a show of intent at the start, while Liam Livingstone chipped in with a patient 43 before Pandya snapped him up. India’s best performer was Varun Chakravarthy, who picked up his second five-wicket haul in T20Is, becoming only the third Indian after Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kuldeep Yadav to do so.
Jos Buttler, who was getting his bearings for a while, became the first victim of Chakravarthy’s magic. Ultimately, a disciplined England bowling performance did the trick, with India needing to regroup ahead of the rest of the series.
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