England put up allround performance to keep T20I series against India alive

Jamie Overton finished with three wickets and Brydon Carse with two as the visitors put on a much-improved display and prevented India from concluding a series win.

Suryakumar Yadav chose to field first after winning the toss. The big addition in the lineup was that of pace veteran Mohammad Shami, making his first appearance since the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup final in place of Arshdeep Singh.

Jos Buttler named an unchanged side, with Jamie Smith keeping wicket instead of Phil Salt, who was the first wicket to fall, in the second over.

Fellow opener Ben Duckett made a vital half-century before he was caught by Abhishek Sharma off the bowling of Hardik Pandya, having put on a good stand with Buttler to put England on a firm footing at 83/2.

The England middle order, however, was unable to negotiate with Varun Charkravarthy, who sliced through them, taking 5-24. That left England on 127/8, requiring Liam Livingstone to make a valiant 43 from 24 balls, with solid final-wicket support from Adil Rashid and Mark Wood, both of whom made 10.

England finished on 171/9, which looked like it might be slightly under par, but their bowlers flew out of the traps, taking wickets regularly with none of the India top-four making it past 24 runs.

Pandya impressed with the bat, making 40 off 35, and putting on a 38-run partnership with Axar Patel.

But after Buttler caught Pandya off Jamie Overton's bowling in the 19th over, there was simply too much for the tail to do, ending the innings 26 runs short.

India lead the five-match series 2-1 heading into the fourth T20I in Pune on Friday, January 31.

(Inputs from ICC)