3rd T20I

Concussion sub Harshit Rana, spinners give India series

Pune: The jury will definitely be out on the concussion sub that India opted for in place of Shivam Dube, who was hit on his helmet on the penultimate ball of the last over. But Harshit Rana bowled fine four overs for 3 for 33 to hand India the unassailable lead in the T20 series against England. 

The visitors were allout for 166 in 19.4 overs, giving India a 15-run win. The home team will go to Mumbai knowing they lead 3-1 in the series.

The visitors, for sure, will be angered by how India opted for a bowler in place of a batter all-rounder. But they lost a match they could have won in a canter if someone had stuck around with brilliant Harry Brook, who once again proved why he is rated so highly in the international circle. They would also rue the shot selection of some of the top-order batters as they tried too many glory shots and perished.

In response to the stiff target of 182, England got off to a fantastic start with openers taking the Indian pace attack to the cleaners. Surya Kumar Yadav turned to his spinners in the fifth over to stem the flow of runs as Phil Salt and Ben Duckett set the tone, scoring 53 in five overs.

Ravi Bishnoi brought India some respite, getting Duckett out, and then Axar Patel bowled Salt with an arm ball. At the halfway stage, the visitors were 86 for 3 after losing their captain to Bishnoi.

Rana, on debut, was on fire from the very first over as he induced a nick from Liam Livingstone before Varun Chakravarthy got the wicket of Harry Brook, who had a muscled to his 50 in 25 balls.

Rana returned to get Jacob Bethell, who was caught in the deep, and later Jamie Overton, who briefly threatened to spoil India's chances. 

Earlier, from 12 for 3 at the end of the second over and 72 for 4 at halfway, India recovered thanks to superb hitting by Hardik Pandya and comeback man Shivam Dube to post 181. 

Tottering against pace and the guile of Adil Rashid, India looked set for another debacle before Hardik joined Dube. He paced his innings superbly, playing a waiting game against spin and then unleashing against pace as England tried to attack the stumps.

That ploy proved costly for the visitors as Hardik hit four 4s and four 6s to bring up his half-century. Dube, the last man to get out in the last ball of the innings, played his power game, though he was troubled by the short-pitched deliveries.

Together, they took India from 79/5 to 166, an 87-run partnership, before Hardik skewed one up, trying to smash one down the ground.

Put into bat the much-vaunted Indian batting came up short once again as England pacers exposed their weakness to quick deliveries. 

Kerala's own Sanju Samson failed yet again to go past single digit, the third time in a row now, holding out in the deep, trying to pull a faster delivery from Saqib Mahmood. In the previous three matches, Joffra Archer had made him his number.

After removing Sanju, Mahmood blasted through the top, removing India captain Surya Kumar Yadav and Tilak Varma, both for duck.

Then Adil Rashid showed his class to remove Abhishek Sharma, who was on a rebuilding mission with Rinku Singh, with a slower holding out to deep midwicket.

Brief scores
India 181 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 53, Shivam Dube 53, Abhishek Sharma 29, Rinku Singh 30, Saqib Mohamood 3/35, Jamie Overton 2/32) bt England 166 in 19.4 overs (Ben Duckett 39, Harry Brook 51, Harshit Rana 3/33, Ravi Bishnoi 3/28, Varun Chakrvarthy 2/28) by 15 runs.