That’s all for today. There’s loads of live cricket on the site in the next few days – Australia v England, Sri Lanka v Australia, India v England – so please join us for that. Goodnight!
The player of the match is Varun Chakravarthy, who took 5 for 24. He’s the first Indian player to win the award in a losing cause.
I’m sad that we didn’t make it but that’s the nature of the game and you have to move on.
I’m mentally ready for whatever the captain needs (whether it’s a four-over spell or four spells of one over). I’ve been working on a flipper and it’s coming out well.
[Is this the best you’ve ever bowled?] Maybe on this stage, yes, but as I said after the last game I can definitely get better. [What would you give yourself out of 10 today?] Maybe 7.2…
Jos Buttler’s reaction
The guys bowled really well, it was nice for them to show off their skills: not just how fast they bowl but how they can adapt to the wicket.
[On Adil Rashid] I’ve said so many times, he’s the most important player in our team. He bowled fantastically. He’s got many variations, so many different styles of bowling. We’re very fortunate to have him in our team.
[On Jofra Archer] You don’t need to talk much to Jofra. He’s a super star, incredibly consistent. It’s not often he goes for 60 so you know that if he does he’ll come back well.
[On Ben Duckett] He played beautifully. That’s why we feel he can bat at the top – he’s got so many options and with only two men out he’s a very difficult guy. From ball on the wicket played a bit differently to how everyone had read it and he played beautifully on what was a little bit of a sticky pitch.
You could look at the fact we lost wickets in clumps and be disappointed but actually we had 170 on the board which I thought was a really good score. I love the way that we kept taking the game on. If you can be disappointed with the way you play and score 170, that’s a great effort. And actually, credit to Adil and Mark Wood putting on 20 at the end. That was a vital partnership.
Time for the presentation. First up, India captain Suryakumar Yadav
With a bit of dew around I felt we still had the game in our hands, even with 64 needed from 24 balls.
Credit goes to Adil who bowled really well in the middle overs. We wanted to rotate strike and he didn’t let us; that’s why he’s a world-class bowler. It’s something to learn and take forward.
We always learn something from a T20 game. We let them get too many after they were around 127 for 8. It was good to see (Mohammed) Shami bowl like that.
[On Varun Chakravarthy] He’s been working really hard during all the practice sessions. He’s got good discipline and he’s getting the results.
Adil Rashid’s verdict
[On the wicket of Tilak Varma] It gripped, spun nicely and went through the gate. But as a unit I thought we bowled exceptionally well.
As you play more and get more experience you start developing certain things; I think one of my strengths is being able to mix it up and react to the pitch. I work hard in the nets and in the last couple of games it’s gone my way.
When we were batting the pitch looked fairly slow and low. We all varied our pace well and we got the rewards.
Me and Woody tried to bat through the overs and get the extra 15-20 runs. Overall we’re quite happy.
England win by 26 runs
20th over: India 145-9 (Bishnoi 4, Chakravarthy 1) England have kept their series alive with a superb victory in Rajkot. Most people felt their total of 171 was below par, but their quicks bowled with aggression, intelligence and discipline – and Adil Rashid was a joy. His dismissal of Tilak Varma, who has been both the immovable object and the irresistible force in T20 internationals, was the key moment of the game.
WICKET! India 140-9 (Jurel c Salt b Carse 2)
Jurel tries to ramp Carse, falls over and spoons the ball high in the air. Salt backpedals to take a comfortable catch. England are either one wicket or five balls away from a stirring victory.
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19th over: India 140-8 (Jurel 2, Bishnoi 0) That was the last ball of a superb spell from Overton of 4-0-23-3. That takes a lot of mental strength when you’ve had such a poor first half of the series with bat and ball. Or so I’d imagine.
WICKET! India 140-8 (Shami c Brook b Overton 7)
Mohammed Shami strolls out to the middle, pulls his second ball for six and then carts his fourth to long on. India need 32 from 6 balls.
WICKET! India 131-7 (Hardik c Buttler b Overton 40)
Game, set and series-saving match. Hardik crashes Overton straight to long off, where Buttler takes a simple catch. He throws the ball up in the air, Hardik throws his bat up in the air in disappointment.
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18th over: India 131-6 (Hardik 40, Jurel 1) Hardik demonstrates his power with a stunning drive for six off Archer. Brook was on the boundary but couldn’t stop it, never mind catch it.
Archer has had a good night: 4-0-33-2 and a stunning catch to dismiss the dangerous Abhishek.
WICKET! India 123-6 (Axar c Rashid b Archer 15)
Gone! Axar backs away and slices a low full toss straight into the hands of Rashid at short third.
In 2018, Rashid won the Thanks For Coming award in the Lord’s Test against India: he didn’t bat, didn’t bowl and didn’t take a catch. Today he has made a vital contribution in all three departments.
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17th over: India 122-5 (Hardik 32, Axar 15) Wood starts with a wide to Hardik, who then whips the first legitimate delivery over wide long-on for an awesome six. Is this the Brobdingnagian over India need?
Not quite. Wood recovers admirably, pounding the ball into the pitch to concede only three from the next four deliveries. And though Axar crashes the last ball for four, a 14-run over still increases the required rate. India need 50 from 18 balls.
16th over: India 108-5 (Hardik 23, Axar 11) Axar slugs Carse’s final ball to cow corner for four, a superbly placed shot. Even with that it’s a good over for England – eight from it, which is exactly half the required rate. But T20 matches have been won from worse positions and England aren’t home yet.
Livingstone’s three sixes in four balls look pretty valuable now, as does the last-wicket partnership of 24 between Rashid and Wood
15th over: India 100-5 (Hardik 22, Axar 5) Pandya muscles Overton down the ground for the first boundary in eight overs. The substitute Bethell denies him another with a superb diving stop at deep backward square. A better over for India, 10 from it, but they are still well behind the rate. They need 72 from 30 balls.
“I estimate that the spectacular Suryakumar orbital edge went up nearly 45 metres in the air,” writes Brian Cox Withington. “Ignoring air resistance and lateral displacement for simplicity, and assuming a hang time measured at nearly 6 seconds (3 up 3 down) and approximating acceleration due to gravity g as 10 m/s/s:
“The formula for (vertical) distance travelled on the way down is s = ut + 0.5xgt^2 where initial velocity u at apex is zero.
“Note that there is no need to know initial ball speed off bat but I estimate it at 30 metres per second. Full working and preliminary sketches available at usual address.”
14th over: India 90-5 (Hardik 14, Axar 3) Even now, with the asking rate above two a ball, India take no risks in Rashid’s final over. Theer are four singles and a huge appeal for LBW when Axar is beaten by another delicious legbreak.
Buttler decides to risk England’s last review. It’s close but Axar might be outside the line. In fact it was doing too much and would have missed leg stump. Axar is not out and Rashid one of his finest T20 spells with 4-0-15-1. The wicket of Tilak Varma changed the game; since then India have scored only 22 in six overs.
13th over: India 86-5 (Hardik 12, Axar 1) Overton is struggling with the bat but England will accept golden ducks for the rest of his career if he keeps producing figures of 2-0-5-1.
Hardik is not out Yep, missing leg by a distance. Not England’s finest review.
12.5 overs: India 86-5 (Hardik 12, Axar 1) England review for LBW when Hardik is hit on the pad by a yorker from Overton. It was beautifully bowled but I suspect it’s missing leg.
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WICKET! India 85-5 (Washington c Buttler b Overton 6)
Washington spoons Overton’s slower ball straight to mid-off to end a poor innings of 6 from 15 balls. His bat had no middle, particularly against Rashid.
If England aren’t careful they are going to win this game.
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12th over: India 85-4 (Hardik 12, Washington 6) Washington is really struggling against Rashid. He survives a stumping referral after missing a slog sweep, but that’s one of three dot balls in the over.
Rashid has outstanding figures of 3-0-11-1. Washington, 6 from 14 balls, will surely have to attack one of the quick bowlers.
11th over: India 82-4 (Hardik 11, Washington 4) England are in a terrific position but will take nothing for granted, especially with Dhruv Jurel and Axar Patel still to come.
Jamie Overton tightens England’s grip with a fine first over. Only four singles from it; India need 90 from 54 balls.
10th over: India 78-4 (Hardik 9, Washington 2) Washington drives Rashid fractionally short of Overton running in from long off. Later in the over a gorgeous delivery bounces through the gate for four byes. Rashid appeals for LBW but England decide against a review. Good decision: it hit the pocket and would have bounced over the stumps.
That was another delightful over from Rashid; if only his shoulder was up to an Ashes tour.
“Another reason to give Rehan Ahmed a few games: we need to get him and Rashid working together so Rash can pass on some of his wisdom,” says Phil Harrison. “I agree with you – he’s one of England’s greatest ever white ball cricketers (surely England’s greatest ever white ball bowler?) and he’s going to leave an enormous hole.”
I’m sure Rehan is still learning loads in the nets, but nothing beats chatting in the middle. The good thing is that Rehan has time on his side. He’s still only 20; Rashid was 27 when his white-ball career got going in 2015.
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9th over: India 72-4 (Hardik 8, Washington 1) India play low-risk cricket throughout Carse’s second over, allowing them to get their bearings before they push for the finishing line. They need 100 from 66 balls.
8th over: India 68-4 (Hardik 5, Washington 0) My word, that was a sensational piece of bowling from one of the greatest white-ball cricketers England have ever had. Even now, almost 10 years on from his recall under Eoin Morgan, he doesn’t quite the credit he deserves. He will when he’s gone.
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WICKET! India 68-4 (Tilak b Rashid 18)
Gottim!!!! Tilak’s streak ends at 336 runs when he is cleaned up by a classic legbreak from Rashid. Tilak misread the length, played back when he should have been forward, and couldn’t react when the ball turned sharply to peg back middle stump.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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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