Rajkot (Gujarat), India - January 28 (ANI): A five-wicket haul by spinner Varun Chakravarthy accounted for a fierce batting performance from Ben Duckett as England was limited to 171-9 in their allotted 20 overs in the third T20I at Rajkot on Tuesday.
India requires 170 runs to win the series 3-0.
Following India's decision to field first after winning the toss, England struggled at the start. Phil Salt played a weak shot on a slow ball bowled by Hardik Pandya. Brook was dismissed for 5 runs off 7 balls after Abhishek Sharma took a fine catch at covers. England lost its first wicket at 7/1 in 1.3 overs.
Jos Buttler was joined by Ben Duckett. Initially, Buttler struggled with the fast bowlers' pace. However, Duckett used the speed of the bowlers to his advantage, hitting three consecutive fours off Pandya and two fours and a six in the following over off Washington Sundar.
England reached the 50-run milestone in 5.1 overs.
At the completion of six overs, England was 52 for one with Duckett (39*) and Buttler (8*) remaining undefeated. In the seventh over, Buttler let his arms go freely against Ravi Bishnoi, scoring a four and six.
The partnership between Duckett and Buttler was collapsed by Varun Chakravarthy's accurate bowling as Sanju Samson's stumping sent the English captain back for 24 runs in 22 balls, in which he scored a four and a six. England reached 83/2 in 9 overs.
India ended the first half of the innings with one more wicket in hand, thanks to a fine catch by Abhishek Sharma at long-on, which dismissed Axar Patel's scalp of Duckett for 51 in 28 balls, hitting seven fours and two sixes. England was 87/3 in 10 overs.
Liam Livingstone and Harry Brook led their team to reach 100 runs in 11.4 overs.
After achieving this milestone, it was downhill for England, as they lost three wickets in quick succession, with Ravi Bishnoi dismissing Harry Brook for just eight runs in 10 deliveries. At that point, England's score was 108/4 in 12.4 overs.
Varun dismissed Jamie Smith (6) and Jamie Overton consecutively on two successive deliveries in the 14th over, thereby reducing England to 115/6.
The spinner extended his excellent run, securing his second five-wicket haul in T20 Internationals, dismissing Brydon Carse for three runs and Jofra Archer for zero runs in the 16th over. England's score stood at 127 for eight wickets after 16 overs.
In the following over, Livingstone provided some relief by hitting three successive sixes off Bishnoi. Nevertheless, his impactful innings came to an end in the subsequent over when Hardik Pandya handled the ball and Dhruv Jurel, stationed at long-on, took a catch. Livingstone accumulated 43 runs from 28 deliveries, including 1 four and 5 sixes. Initially, England's tally in 17.1 overs was 147/9.
Mark Wood and Adil Rashid fashioned a sturdy total of 171/9 from their 20 overs, remaining unbeaten on 10 runs each.
Chakravarthy took the most wickets for India. Hardik took two wickets for 33 runs in four overs. Bishnoi and Axar took one wicket each.