Key events
7th over: India 62-3 (Tilak 14, Hardik 3) Liam Livingstone comes on for Archer (3-0-24-1). It takes two balls before Varma skips down to drive a flat, straight six.
Here’s a stat for you, and it’s insane. Since his last dismissal in a T20 international, Varma has scored 332 runs from 184 balls: 107*, 120*, 19*, 72*, 14*. Unsurprisingly, that’s a record among Test-playing nations.
6th over: India 51-3 (Tilak 5, Hardik 1) Suryakumar has captained beautifully all series but he remains short of runs, with 26 in three innings now. That’s a good Powerplay for England, who were 52 for 1 at the same stage; but then India don’t have to face Varun Chakravarthy.
WICKET! India 48-3 (Suryakumar c Salt b Wood 14)
Another big wicket for England! Suryakumar top-edges Wood into outer space – “that’s as high as I’ve seen a cricket ball go” says Kevin Pietersen on commentary – and Salt, who has only just taken over as wicketkeeper, runs towards short fine leg to take an excellent catch.
5th over: India 48-2 (Suryakumar 14, Tilak 4) Suryakumar sees that shot and raises it, lifting Archer’s first ball off middle stump and over short fine leg for six. That’s a preposterous shot. He uppercuts four more, both feet off the ground, and is denied another boundary by a fine stop from Rashid at mid-on. India need 124 from 90 balls.
4th over: India 35-2 (Suryakumar 1, Tilak 4) Tilak Varma, the matchwinner on Saturday, gets off the mark with a spectacular shot, charging Carse to flat-bat four through the covers.
Jamie Smith has gone off the field, with Jacob Bethell replacing him and Phil Salt taking the gloves. England said before the game that Smith had a calf niggle so presumably he’s compounded that.
WICKET! India 31-2 (Abhishek c Archer b Carse 24)
Jofra Archer takes a sensational catch to get rid of Abhishek Sharma! Abhishek had already hit two fours in the over – the first lucky, the second brilliant – when he backed away and launched Brydon Carse miles in the air on the off side. Archer backpedalled desperately towards the cover boundary, took the catch above his head and held on when his momentum knocked him off his feet.
3rd over: India 23-1 (Abhishek 16, Suryakumar 1) A good delivery from Archer is driven majestically over extra cover for four by Abhishek. He has looked frighteningly good at times in this series.
WICKET! India 16-1 (Samson c Rashid b Archer 3)
The early wicket that England needed. Samson, hurried by a short ball from Archer, cloths a pull straight to the backpedalling Rashid at mid-on. That’s a good bit of bowling.
2nd over: India 15-0 (Samson 3, Abhishek 10) Abhishek larrups successive boundaries off Mark Wood, a lusty drive over cover and a pull over mid-on. There are a couple of wides in the over as well, both to the right-handed Samson. Not the start Wood wanted, though he did look dangerous when he bowled a tighter line.
1st over: India 3-0 (Samson 2, Abhishek 1) Jofra Archer, who took some hammer in Chennai on Saturday, starts well here. He bowls wicket to wicket, a tactic that worked well for the Indian quicks, and concedes three singles.
In other news
“In other news,” begins Gary Naylor, “Farhan Ahmed (16), Rehan’s brother, is taking wickets with his off-breaks and made 90 in the U-19s Test in South Africa. It’s not if, it’s when, he plays for England and, given these travails in white ball, it has to be sooner rather than later. Remember the name!”
Remember the age!
India need 172 to win the series
The indecipherable Varun Chakravarthy was again too much for England. He bowled beautifully to take 5 for 24 and nobble England after a good start by Ben Duckett and Jos Buttler. The consensus in the commentary box is that England are at least 30 runs short.
20th over: England 171-9 (Rashid 10, Wood 10) England manage to bat out the overs, taking six singles, a two and a wide from Pandya’s last over. The last ball would have led to a run-out had the throw from long on not hit Wood on the back.
19th over: England 162-9 (Rashid 8, Wood 5) A clever little touch from Rashid, who uses his wrists to glide Shami through the slips for four. Wood sways out of the way of accidental beamer, which means a no-ball and a warning for Shami.
England ran a bye off that ball and Rashid fresh-aired the free hit. Even so, 11 runs from the over is a good effort for the last pair.
18th over: England 151-9 (Rashid 2, Wood 2) “Given that there’s a couple of matches left in what will be a dead rubber, should England rotate a few batters?” wonders John Starbuck. “Overton and Salt could be put out of their misery, but who would come in?”
They could experiment with Smith opening and Bethell at No6 but that’s not really McCullum’s style. Ultimately Salt is in their best XI so unless he is shot mentally (which I doubt, it’s only three innings) I’d keep him in. An alternative is Bethell at No7, though that is risky as well because it leaves you a bit short with the ball.
I’d like to see Rehan Ahmed play, more with the future in mind than the present. In the medium term they should think hard about picking Joe Root as a specialist for the 2026 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka.
WICKET! England 147-9 (Livingstone c Jurel b Hardik 43)
It was fun while it lasted. Livingstone, trying to hit his sixth six, holes out to long-on to end a punishing innings of 43 from 24 balls. Would that it were enough for England.
17th over: England 146-8 (Livingstone 43, Rashid 0) Livingstone releases some frustration by slog-sweeping Bishnoi’s first two balls for six.
Then he turns down a single – which allows him to pull a rancid long hop for six more. Livingstone does take a single of the penultimate ball; Rashid knows what time it is and defends the final delivery.
16th over: England 127-8 (Livingstone 24, Rashid 0) What a delightful spell that was: 4-0-24-5.
WICKET! England 127-8 (Archer b Chakravarthy 0)
Varun Chakravarthy completes a five-for with the last ball of a glorious spell! Archer pushes outside the line to a ball that zipped through the gate to hit the outside of off stump. “Was that bowled?” said Archer, who looks clueless against Chakravarthy. He’s not alone in that.
WICKET! England 127-7 (Carse c Tilak b Chakravarthy 3)
Brydon Carse can’t save England today, at least not with the bat. He hoicks Chakravarthy high to deep square leg, where Tilak Varma takes a good catch. Chakravarthy has England in the palm of his hand.
15th over: England 123-6 (Livingstone 21, Carse 2) Livingstone slog-sweeps Bishnoi for six, but four dot balls – two either side of that big hit – make it another good over for India.
“Just baffled by this Jamie Overton thing,” says Phil Harrison. “He hasn’t got it. He’s a good county slogger but the idea of him having enough nous and skill to succeed against India in India is the ultimate in wishful thinking. Pick Rehan. Pick Mousley. Pick anyone else.”
Not sure I agree with that. At the very least, based on his T20 record, I think it was worth a look – especially as death hitting is such a specialist skill. But with the next T20 World Cup to be played in India, it’s not looking great. I’m not certain but I think most of his T20 success has been outside Asia.
14th over: England 116-6 (Livingstone 15, Carse 1) There’s a slip, leg slip and short leg for the hat-trick ball… which Brydon Carse pushes calmly for a single.
WICKET! England 115-6 (Overton b Chakravarthy 0)
Well this is going well. Overton tries to lap his first ball, misses and is bowled round his legs. That, I’m afraid to say, was not pretty. But there are two sides to every story and the marvellous Varun Chakravarthy is on a hat-trick.
WICKET! England 115-5 (Smith c Jurel b Chakravarthy 6)
Six and out for Jamie Smith. He muscled his third ball down the ground for six only to cart the fourth flat and hard towards deep midwicket. Dhruv Jurel ran in and dived forward to take a fine catch.
13th over: England 108-4 (Livingstone 14, Smith 0) Jamie Smith is dropped first ball, a really tough chance to the keeper Samson when he inside-edged the ball past leg stump.
India are slowly taking control of this match: in the last 25 balls England have scored 25 for the loss of three big wickets.
WICKET! England 108-4 (Brook b Bishnoi 8)
Livingstone uses his feet again, this time to clip Bishnoi wristily for four. That’s a lovely shot. He looks calmer than Brook, who has been a little skittish at the start of his innings.
Make that ‘for his entire innings’: Brook tries to slog-sweep a near yorker-length delivery and is bowled. At first it looked like a big googly through the gate but I’m pretty sure Brook dragged it onto the stumps. It’s fair to say he’s not in nick.
12th over: England 101-3 (Brook 7, Livingstone 9) Livingstone charges Axar and smashes a straight six, setting up a decent over for England – ten from it, though the last ball turned dramatically to beat Livingstone.
11th over: England 91-3 (Brook 4, Livingstone 2) India introduce their fifth spinner, the left-armer Abhishek Sharma. The timing is perfect, with two new batters at the crease, and he concedes only four singles.
10th over: England 87-3 (Brook 2, Livingstone 0) Yep.
WICKET! England 87-3 (Duckett c Abhishek b Patel 51)
Uh-oh. Straight after reaching a fine 26-ball fifty, the first in his new role as T20I opener, Duckett hacks Axar straight to cow corner.
9th over: England 83-2 (Duckett 49, Brook 0) Chakravarthy is working his magic agian: in what is likely to be a very high-scoring game, he has figures of 2-0-12-1.
WICKET! England 83-2 (Buttler c Samson b Chakravarthy 24)
Yep, Buttler’s body language betrayed him. There was a murmur on UltraEdge as the ball passed the bat, so the third umpire didn’t even bother checking the glove. That’s a big blow for England.
8.6 overs: England 83-1 (Duckett 49, Buttler 24) Duckett gets his first boundary since the fifth over, thumping Chakravarthy back over his head. The commentators, Kevin Pietersen and Sunil Gavaskar, reckon England need at least 200.
India risk their last review on a caught behind when Buttler tries to reverse sweep Chakravarathy. The keeper Sanju Samson was convinced, the umpire and bowler less so. I think Buttler snapped his head back in disappointment, knowing it had brushed the glove. We’ll soon find out.
8th over: England 74-1 (Duckett 42, Buttler 23) Duckett’s boundaries have dried up for the time being, but England still manage to take nine from Axar Patel’s first over: five singles and four byes when Buttler misses a sweep and Samson is unsighted behind the stumps.
7th over: England 65-1 (Duckett 40, Buttler 20) Jos Buttler decides to pick up the slack. He wallops a reverse sweep for four off Bishnoi – it was in the air but wide of the diving short third man – then skips down to smash an imperious six over wide long-on. Thirteen from the over.
6th over: England 52-1 (Duckett 39, Buttler 8) On comes the mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy. He hasn’t bowled to Duckett in this series; their contest should be fascinating. After a respectful defensive stroke, Duckett clunks a reverse pull for a single. Chakravarthy may have sensed what was coming because he pushed it wider of off stump.
Duckett can’t do anything with the last two balls of a superb first over – just three runs from it, in the Powerplay as well.
5th over: England 49-1 (Duckett 38, Buttler 6) The offspinner Washington Sundar, who dismissed Duckett in Chennai, comes onto bowl. Duckett makes it five successive boundaries with a beautifully placed cover drive and a lofted reverse sweep. After a rare dot ball, Duckett comes the track to club a mighty straight six. This is blistering stuff.
Duckett survives an LBW review off the last ball of the over. He missed a reverse sweep but was hit well outside the line. Duckett has 38 from 14 balls; if he was 22 not out from 14 I very much doubt India would have reviewed it.
4th over: England 34-1 (Duckett 24, Buttler 5) Buttler takes a very tight single to mid-off. He played beautifully in the first two games but hasn’t yet found the middle of the bat.
Duckett is the opposite – he failed in the first two games but is off to a flyer tonight. He pulls Pandya brusquely for four, then backs away to flat bat the follow-up over cover. A ferocious clip over midwicket makes it three fours in a row and takes Duckett to 24 from 9 balls.
3rd over: England 21-1 (Duckett 12, Buttler 4) Buttler feels for a good delivery from Shami and is beaten. “Look at that seam position…” purrs Sunil Gavaskar on commentary.
Buttler clunks two back over the bowler’s head, then Duckett ramps six over the keeper’s head. That shot has become so common that it doesn’t even merit an exclamatiom mark any more.
2nd over: England 12-1 (Duckett 6, Buttler 1) A leg-stump inswinger is put away for four by Duckett. The sliding Washington got a touch on the ball but couldn’t stop it.
WICKET! England 7-1 (Salt c Abhishek b Hardik 5)
Phil Salt’s struggles continue. He smashes an off-cutter from Hardik straight to extra cover, where Abhishek takes a sharp catch with nonchalant ease. His weight wasn’t fully forward, possibly because the previous delivery was a sharp bouncer.
Salt’s scores in T20s against India are 8, 5, 0, 4 and 5. The sample size is too small to draw sweeping conclusions, especially as his IPL record is terrific.
1st over: England 6-0 (Salt 5, Duckett 1) After one ball from Shami, which beats Salt and keeps a bit low, Surkaykumar takes the slip out. Salt forces the next ball down the ground for four – he didn’t time it but the outfield looks pretty fast.
The slip goes back in for the last ball of the over, Duckett’s first, which he clips to midwicket for a single. It’s noticeable that Shami is bowling very straight.
Here come the players, including the England openers Phil Salt and Ben Duckett. Salt’s overall T20 record is outstanding but against India he has struggled: four innings, 17 runs at 4.25.
Australia begin their two-Test series in Sri Lanka tomorrow. Steve Smith, their stand-in captain, needs one run to reach 10,000 in Tests. Geoff Lemon has paid tribute.
“Good afternoon,” says John Starbuck. “Ever get the feeling England are drinking in the Last Chance Saloon? Let’s hope there’s a bar brawl on the way as we could do with the energy.”
Sambucas all round.
Team news
The great Mohammed Shami returns to international cricket for the first time since the 50-over World Cup final in November 2023. Arshdeep Singh is rested.
England have picked the same XI but Jamie Smith has a tight calf so he’ll keep wicket instead of Phil Salt.
India Samson (wk), Abhishek, Tilak, Suryakumar (c), Jurel, Hardik, Washington, Axar, Shami, Bishnoi, Chakravarthy.
England Salt, Duckett, Buttler (c), Brook, Livingstone, Smith (wk), Overton, Carse, Archer, Rashid, Wood.
India win the toss and bowl
That’s three in a row for Suryakumar Yadav, and bad news for England. Both captains think it looks like the best wicket of the series so far.
Mark Wood on his series so far
It’s great that my pace has been up there and I feel it’s coming out my hand well but the accuracy at times hasn’t been quite where I wanted it. But when I haven’t played since August, it’s pretty much expected – I’ve played two games since then. Hopefully the more I play, the better I get leading into the 50-over stuff and the Champions Trophy.
Preamble
Cold water is so damn hot right now. You can’t open a browser without seeing a feature on the abundant health benefits of freezing showers, ice baths and other forms of cold water immersion therapy. It can reduce inflammation, strengthen your immune system, improve blood flow and give you a newfound respect for lukewarm showers.
England may come to view this white-ball tour of India in a similar way. It’s been extremely uncomfortable so far, and one or two of their players would probably turn the shower off if they could. But in one sense it’s a great way to start the Bazball Nights era. India away is as tough as it gets; England should be a healthier team for the experience. They might even strengthen their immune system against quality spin bowling.
That’s the positive take. The negative is that they’ll be facing a whitewash if they lose today, that mystery spin is their Kryptonite in perpetuity, that Eoin Morgan’s team were outliers rather than trailblazers and that AI is going to kill us all by the year 2030.
England came very close to winning the second T20 international, thanks in part to an amazing individual performance from Brydon Carse, so they still have plenty of reasons to be cheerful. Winning the toss wouldn’t do any harm either.
The match begins at 1.30pm GMT.
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