A disciplined bowling attack, to follow up on Ben Duckett’s second T20I half-century, helped England to a 26-run victory over India, in Rajkot, on Tuesday. With this win, England cut India’s lead to 2-1 in the five-match series.

The visitors had hoped that their counter-attack would eventually be able to outwit India. They tried, and somewhere till the end of the ninth over, it looked good. Jos Buttler and Ben Duckett in the middle, and 83 for 1 on the board. And then, a new but by-now-old nemesis emerged – Varun Chakravarthy. This time, with a ball lower than Buttler had anticipated, which was eventually undercut to the wicketkeeper.

Till the time Buttler and Ben Duckett were in the middle, the conditions for batting seemed pleasant. In a matter of seven deliveries in the fourth and fifth over especially, bowled by Hardik Pandya and Washington Sundar respectively, Duckett clubbed five boundaries and a six. Buttler didn’t find similar acceleration in his innings but after reverse-sweeping Bishnoi for a boundary in the seventh hope, he launched a tossed up delivery by the leggie over the long on fence.

But against Chakravarthy, it was a different story for the English batters. At sea against the wily variations of the spinner, Jamie Smith and Jamie Overton departed in successive deliveries in the 14th over. In the last over of his spell, Brydon Carse flicked him to the fielder at deep square leg, and Jofra Archer was cleaned up with a google. In a matter of seven overs from since Buttler’s departure, the visitors slid to 127 for 8, with Chakravarthy finishing his four-over spell with five wickets to his credit.

Fellow spinners – Axar Patel and Ravi Bishnoi also joined Chakravarthy’s party and threw England off their momentum completely. Duckett mistimed a slog off Axar to mid on and Harry Brook underedged a sweep off Bishnoi on to his stumps. Liam Livingstone’s late assault, a 24-ball 43, offered some respite. He slogged Bishnoi for three sixes in the 17th over, but departed in the next over. England’s last two batters, Adil Rashid and Mark Wood negotiated in the remaining deliveries in their innings to help them to a respectable 171 for 8 – slightly more competitive and eventually match-winning.

The contest, which seemed slightly in India’s favour courtesy Abhishek Sharma’s early assault, got a bit more exciting when Suryakumar Yadav top-edged a scoop flick to Phil Salt in the last over of the powerplay, reducing India to 48 for 3. By then, his enterprising strokeplay and Abhishek Sharma’s cameo were undone by the dismissal of the duo along with Sanju Samson, leading India early into a rebuilding phase.

Hardik Pandya and Tilak Varma handled the situation calmly, but the Indian batters too were put to test against Adil Rashid’s spin. With turn on offer in the surface, the leggie used his variations in pace to excellent effect. Varma was undone by a sharply turning legbreak that beat him on the inside edge and cleaned him up in the ninth over.

Washington Sundar didn’t have it much easier either trying to negotiate the loop, dip and lack of pace to accompany the turn that Rashid was getting from the surface. His 14-ball 6 in the middle overs firmly shifted the control in England’s favour. At the same time, Rashid finished an excellent spell, conceding only 15 runs.

With the ball keep a little slow and low, Hardik Pandya, despite several attempts, failed to get the big shots going. The English pacers played around well with the pace, disguising the slower ones well with their high speeds. A couple of sixes were peppered with several mistimed shots for singles. Axar Patel didn’t have it any easier either, clawing his way to a 15-ball 16 before top-edging Jofra Archer to short third.

As the required rate kept mounting and went past India’s realistic chance, It just turned out to be a procession of wickets in the end, with Shami top-edging his swing to deep long on and Dhruv Jurel scooping the ball to the ‘keeper. Bishnoi drove the last ball for a boundary, but that was far too little for India.

Brief Scores:
England 171/9 in 20 overs (Ben Duckett 51, Liam Livingstone 43; Varun Chakravarthy 5-24, Hardik Pandya 2-33) beat India 145/9 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 40, Abhishek Sharma 24; Jamie Overton 3-24, Brydon Carse 2-28) by 26 runs