India v England T20I Cricket LIVE – Third T20 International in Rajkot ...

India 85-4 (Hardik 12, Washington 6) Target: 172 Overs: 12

Brilliant again from Adil Rashid, with just three runs coming off his third over. He almost gets Washington stumped, but the batter just managed to get his foot back after missing with a big heave.

India 82-4 (Hardik 11, Washington 4) Target: 172 Overs: 11

England like to use Overton with a heavy ball through the middle overs and he shows why that’s the plan with a tidy over that concedes just four singles.

India 78-4 (Hardik 9, Washington 2) Target: 172 Overs: 10

England are excited for a while as a miscue drops short of Overton in the deep.

Rashid is causing India some problems here, showing great variety. And he very nearly cleans up Washington, ripping one right through the batter, with the ball bouncing over the stumps, beating the keeper and racing away to the boundary.

It’s time for drinks, with India still having plenty of work to do here.

India 72-4 (Hardik 8, Washington 1) Target: 172 Overs: 9

Carse comes back into the attack with Washington joining Hardik at the crease. India aren’t taking any risks right now, but it’s a strong over nonetheless, with just four runs coming from it.

WICKET! India 68-4 (Hardik 5) Target: 172 Overs: 8

Tilak Varma, bowled Adil Rashid, 18 (14)

India know they should still chase this target down from here and are content to build through Adil Rashid’s first over, knocking him around.

But Tilak Varma isn’t a batter who’s been picked for his defensive game and he is completely bamboozled by the final ball of the over – an absolute ripper from England’s front-line spinner, with Tilak cleaned up as middle stump is knocked back. That’s a stunning delivery and India are four down. Game on!

India 62-3 (Tilak 14, Hardik 3) Target: 172 Overs: 7

Spin through the middle overs was where India took control of the first innings and England turn to their tweakers too, with Livingstone brought into the attack. Tilak Varma hammers him down the ground for six as India look to go on the attack, but excellent fielding from Duckett denies Hardik another boundary later in the over. 11 runs come from Livi's first.

WICKET! India 51-3 (Tilak 5, Hardik 1) Target: 172 Overs: 6

Suryakumar Yadav, caught Phil Salt bowled Mark Wood, 14 (7)

Wood continues as England hunt for wickets and he gets the huge scalp of the India captain, rushing him into a top edge that flies high into the Rajkot sky and is well-taken by replacement keeper Salt. England keep on chipping away.

Hardik Pandya is the new batter, coming in ahead of Dhruv Jurel at number five, with India looking to stabilize their innings.

Just three runs come from Wood’s over and the powerplay comes to an end with the game hanging in the balance.

India 48-2 (SKY 14, Tilak 4) Target: 172 Overs: 5

Suryakumar Yadav is the best T20 batter in the world and he shows off his class with a shot that should be outrageous but is just expected with a batter of this quality, flicking a length ball off his pads and behind him for six.

SKY carries on with a helicopter shot that races away for four more, and India’s attacking intent against England’s best bowler is clear to see. It’s quite a statement from the home side – they can and will smash any bowler.

Archer bites back with consecutive dot balls to end the over.

WICKET! India 35-2 (SKY 1, Tilak 4) Target: 172 Overs: 4

Abhishek Sharma, caught Jofra Archer bowled Brydon Carse, 24 (14)

Carse comes into the attack and a big outside edge flies away for four runs off his very first delivery. That was a tad fortunate for Abhishek, as is a big swing and a miss second up.

A bizarre shot earns the India opener a second boundary of the over as he somehow manages to play something resembling a straight slice that races away for four.

But Abhishek’s knock comes to an end thanks to a brilliant catch from Archer in the deep, superbly holding on to a steepler.

Tilak Varma gets off the mark with an absolute bullet of a shot that races to the extra-cover boundary.

England have their powerplay wickets and we may yet have a contest on our hands here, but England have an issue with their keeper Jamie Smith, who looks like he’s unable to continue due to an injury. Bethell comes on and Phil Salt reappears after sprinting off to grab his gloves.

WICKET! India 23-1 (Abhishek 16, SKY 1) Target: 172 Overs: 3

Sanju Samson, caught Adil Rashid bowled Jofra Archer, 3 (6)

Archer may have taken some tap in the second T20, but he is one of the best white-ball bowlers in the world and he shows off his powerplay threat once again to remove Samson early, rushing him with a back-of-a-length delivery that the opener spoons to Adil Rashid in the outfield.

India’s approach in this series against Archer has been to take him on and look to demoralize England’s main weapon, and Abhishek does so again later in the over, sending a glorious drive over the circle and away for four runs to keep the scoreboard ticking.

India 15-0 (Samson 3, Abhishek 10) Target: 172 Overs: 2

Wood takes the new ball from the other end and looks to crank up the pace, with England needing breakthroughs early on. There’s some logic to it, but it comes with big risks too, and Abhishek takes on the pace, banging back-to-back fours, including a swiped boundary off a ball that was fired down at over 93mph. Abhishek’s aggressive approach almost does for him later in the over as a mishit falls short of Livingstone in the deep. Wood is trying to keep it out of the arc, but isn’t quite getting that right and sends down two wides in the over.

India 3-0 (Samson 2, Abhishek 1) Target: 172 Overs: 1

It’s Archer with the new ball for England, with early wickets the order of the day. India bat deep and it’ll only take one player to tee off to put them well in control of the chase on this helpful surface.

The first over is an excellent one yielding just three singles with Archer’s pace touching 90mph just three deliveries in.

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COOK AND FINN ANALYSE THE FIRST INNINGS

Sir Alastair Cook and Steven Finn are in the TNT Sports studio and both feel that the first innings was very much a case of excellent from India.

"England’s inability to play spin effectively has been shown up," Cook said.

And Finn thinks that England could yet stand a chance in this game, but will need powerplay breakthroughs:

INDIA REQUIRE 172 TO WIN

England’s struggles against spin have continued in this series and they will need something special with the ball here if they are to avoid a third-straight defeat. On a batting-friendly surface in Rajkot it looked like the tourists were on course for a big score when they reached 83-1 inside the first nine overs, thanks in a large part to Ben Duckett’s half-century. But the England batters collapsed, with Varun Chakravarthy again the stand-out performer for India, bagging 5-24 in his four overs as England slumped to 127-8. Some late hitting from Liam Livingstone (43 from 24) and a safe final-wicket stand means that England have something to work with, but 171-9 is significantly below par on a pitch that should have yielded far more.

England 171-9 (Rashid 10, Wood 10) Overs: 20

Hardik takes on the final over, as he so often does for India. He shows why he’s developed into such a weapon at the death, going through his variations and keeping the ball out of the arc of England’s lower-order batters. Eight runs come from the over in all, including a wide and a hard-run two off the final delivery, with the ball hitting the back of Wood as he raced back for a second. England limp to 171-9, which is below par but better than it looked like they would manage a few overs back.

England 162-9 (Rashid 8, Wood 5) Overs: 19

The latest of cuts from Rashid steers Shami away to the boundary, and he yields byes later in the over with a beamer that Wood does well to avoid. The umpire warns the bowler for that and it’s also a no-ball. 11 runs come from the over in all as England knock it around, intent to bat into the final over.

WICKET! England 151-9 (Rashid 2, Wood 2) Overs: 18

Liam Livingstone, caught Dhruv Jurel bowled Hardik Pandya, 43 (24)

Livingstone looks for the stands again, but he doesn’t get all of Hardik and picks out the fielder in the deep, ending his counter-attacking effort.

Mark Wood is the final batter for England. He’s capable of big hits, but there’s plenty of deliveries left here with just the one wicket remaining. Wood and Rashid opt to look for singles, taking four off the remainder of the over.

England 146-8 (Livingstone 43, Rashid 0) Overs: 17

Livingstone is an all-or-nothing sort of player and he knows that there’s little point in scratching around here, he might as well go for it. And go for it is exactly what he does.

Three times in four balls he hammers Bishnoi into the stands on the leg side. He knocks a single to leave Adil Rashid one ball to face, and Livingstone’s attack will continue into the next over.

DOUBLE WICKET OVER! England 127-8 (Livingstone 24) Overs: 16

Brydon Carse, caught Tilak Varma bowled Varun Chakravarthy, 3 (4)

Jofra Archer, bowled Varun Chakravarthy, 0 (2)

This time it’s Carse who looks for the leg-side stand, but he doesn’t get hold of it and picks out Tilak Varma in the deep. England have unraveled after a promising start and they are almost certain to end with a below par score on this surface.

Jofra Archer is the new batter, but he’s undone by the final ball of the over which whips through the gap between bat and pad and clips the top of off. Varun is on fire!

Archer will know he’s in for a tough test later on, once again being forced to defend a total lower than ideal against a very strong Indian batting line-up.

England 123-6 (Livingstone 21, Carse 2) Overs: 15

A lot rests on the big-hitting potential of Livingstone here for England, and he shows that he’s found some better touch than in the previous two games, dispatching Bishnoi into the stands over deep midwicket.

DOUBLE WICKET OVER! England 116-6 (Livingstone 15, Carse 1) Overs: 14

Jamie Smith, caught Dhruv Jurel bowled Varun Chakravarthy, 6 (3)

Jamie Overton, bowled Varun Chakravarthy, 0 (1)

Wickets are tumbling here in Rajkot. Smith hammers Varun down the ground for six, but falls to the next delivery as he looks to hoick a poor delivery away next ball and can only spice it into the hands of a fielder in the deep.

Overton comes to the crease with more overs remaining than the selectors had in mind when picking him for this finisher role, and he’s undone first up, bowled around his legs for a golden duck. He is in the team to score fast at the death, primarily against pace, but the failings off the top six have exposed him once again today.

The close catchers come in for the hat-trick ball, but Carse plays it well. England need big contributions from their bowlers if they are to get up to a winnable score here.

WICKET! England 108-4 (Livingstone 14, Smith 0) Overs: 13

Harry Brook, bowled Ravi Bishnoi, 8 (10)

Harry Brook’s record against India is not great and his poor rut continues in cruel fashion as he underedges a sweep back onto his own stumps. Bishnoi puts his hands on his knees a gives a wry smile at Brook, acknowledging how fortunate that wicket is. But it leaves England four down, and it’s almost five as an edge from Smith is dropped first up by Samson. That was a thick edge and would have needed a terrific take to stick.

England 101-3 (Brook 7, Livingstone 9) Overs: 12

Ooh, trademark Livingstone. "He doesn’t do it as much as he’d like" says Kevin Pietersen on commentary, and it’s hard to argue with that, but when Livingstone does connect it’s might impressive and the home crowd let out a gasp as he hammers an absolutely giant six straight back down the ground. Huge shot. The hundred comes up for England and they will still be hopeful of pushing on towards 200 here.

England 91-3 (Brook 4, Livingstone 2) Overs: 11

Yet more spin for England to face as Abhishek Sharma gets play underway after drinks. Just four singles come from it. That’s five spinners used by India in this game.

WICKET! England 87-3 (Brook 2) Overs: 10

Ben Duckett, caught Abhishek Sharma bowled Axar Patel, 51 (28)

A single off the first ball of the over brings up a an excellent fifty from Duckett off just 26 deliveries. But his innings comes to an end at the end of Axar’s over as he picks out Abhishek in the deep to depart for 51. The players take drinks.

WICKET! England 83-2 (Duckett 49) Overs: 9

Jos Buttler, caught Sanju Samson bowled Varun Chakravarthy, 24 (22)

England have a platform and so Duckett starts to take more risks against danger-man Varun, lofting him away for a boundary. India launch a jubilant appeal off the final ball of the over, convinced that they’ve got Buttler caught behind, and Suryakumar Yadav is persuaded to take the review. It looks like there could be a flick on its way through to Samson, and, after a long wait, ultra edge confirms the decision. It looked like there might have been both an edge and a glove on that, and Buttler has to go. It’s an excellent catch from the keeper.

England 74-1 (Duckett 42, Buttler 23) Overs: 8

Now it’s Axar’s time to have a bowl, the fourth India spinner to feature inside eight overs. Four byes hurt his figures in an over that saw singles taken off every other delivery. England's approach is patient against India's two front-line spinners, keeping wickets in hand.

England 65-1 (Duckett 40, Buttler 20) Overs: 7

Bishnoi gets a go and Buttler, who has given himself some time, goes on the attack. A superb reverse hit races away for four and he follows it up with a monster six, skipping down the track and dispatching the ball far into the stands. Even Hardik has a look of appreciation at that shot.

England 51-1 (Duckett 39, Buttler 8) Overs: 6

India opt for spin from both ends and introduce the dangerous Varun Chakravarthy into the attack. He’s been the danger man through the series so far and England play him with respect, taking three singles off the final over of the powerplay.

England 49-1 (Duckett 38, Buttler 6) Overs: 5

It’s time for some spin, with Washington brought into the attack, but Duckett keeps his foot to the floor, hammering one through the in-field on the off side for four before following it up with a clever reverse sweep up and over the ring for another four. The runs keep on flowing as he skips down the track and hammers Washington all the way back down the ground for a dismissive six, but he fails to make good connection with a reverse sweep off the final ball of the over and India decide to review. There isn’t an edge or a glove, so it comes down to impact, which is well outside the line and Duckett will continue. That was quite a poor review.

England 34-1 (Duckett 24, Buttler 5) Overs: 4

India’s quicks are bowling cleverly on an unhelpful surface here, aided by some classy fielding in the ring, but Duckett is also ticking nicely. He gets the runs flowing, pulling to the boundary, punching another away to the rope and completing a hat-trick of boundaries by hammering one out to cow corner.

England 21-1 (Duckett 12, Buttler 4) Overs: 3

Buttler chips Shami down the ground but doesn’t quite get all of it and has to settle for two runs. A clever scoop from Duckett spoils an otherwise excellent over from Shami, with the left-hander’s clever shot flying all the way for six.

WICKET! England 12-1 (Duckett 6, Buttler 1) Overs: 2

Phil Salt, caught Abhishek Sharma bowled Hardik Pandya, 5 (7)

Hardik takes the new ball from the other end and goes through his variations, taking pace off the ball even at this early stage. It’ll be interesting to see if England’s quicks follow suit later on. A terrific bouncer has Salt in a spot of bother and he does well to get out of the way, but it clearly has an impact on his following shot – a drive with his weight on the back foot as he chips a slower ball straight into the ring. Excellent from Hardik and it’s another disappointment for Salt in the series.

Jos Buttler comes to the middle inside the first two overs, as he also did in both previous games. He gets off the mark with a single and Duckett finishes the over with a clip away for four.

England 6-0 (Salt 5, Duckett 1) Overs: 1

Shami takes the new ball and all of the talk of a flat pitch prior to the match immediately looks like it was accurate. Slip comes out after the very first delivery, and Salt drills Shami back down the ground next ball for England’s first boundary of the innings. Will we finally see the run-fest we were expecting throughout the series? Shami will be cursing his luck to come in on a surface like this, but he’s experienced enough to still make an impact and concedes just two further singles from the over.

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WOOD DELIGHTED TO FEATURE AGAIN

Even Mark Wood himself was slightly surprised after being picked for a third straight game. Here’s what he had to say in the pre-match press conference:

"I was surprised but I was pleased," Wood said of his inclusion in the team at a pre-match press conference. "I’ve missed so many games for England that when you have a chance you want to play.

"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."

ENGLAND UNCHANGED FROM SECOND T20

In the last game England brought in Brydon Carse for Gus Atkinson, who had underperformed in the series opener, and picked Jamie Smith in place of the unwell Jacob Bethell, and both players showed enough to stay in an unchanged XI for this game.

Perhaps more significantly is the decision to select both Mark Wood and Jofra Archer for the third straight game – an indication that this tour is not one for experimentation or with long-term fitness management in mind.

Wood has bowled with serious pace but without huge impact yet, while Archer was outstanding in the first game but extremely expensive in the second – partly due to misfortune an partly due to India’s set batters using his extra pace to their advantage. England are trying to play to their strengths, and one of those is pace. How those two go today will play a big part in the outcome of this match.

India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Hardik Pandya, Dhruv Jurel, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Ravi Bishnoi, Mohammed Shami, Varun Chakravarthy.

England: Phil Salt (wk), Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler (capt), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Mark Wood, Adil Rashid.

INDIA WIN THE TOSS

India win the toss for the third straight time and will once again bowl first. They make one change, with Shami replacing Arshdeep, who is being given a rest. England captain Buttler says that Smith will keep wicket today due to having a small niggle.

WHAT HAPPENED LAST TIME OUT

Tilak Varma’s outstanding and unbeaten 72* from 55 won the second T20 for India, with the winning runs coming with just four deliveries to spare.

The India number three was the clear match-winner, but his team’s winning position was built on more excellent work from the spinners, who will have England in their sights again today.

INDIA LOOK TO WRAP UP SERIES WIN

India’s wins in the first two matches mean they could seal a series victory at the earliest possible opportunity today. England have not been at their best, but the story of this series so far is the brilliance of this India T20 side as they rebuild towards the next World Cup. The boost of finally ending their wait for a major ICC trophy has lifted pressure off the team, and also apparently off the selectors, who are now dipping into the ranks of the best performers of the IPL… and it’s fair to say that it’s working. It’s going to be fascinating to see how this team develops over the next 12 months ahead of the next T20 World Cup in 2026.

HELLO AND WELCOME

Good afternoon and welcome to live coverage of India versus England in Rajkot.

Stay tuned for build-up and live text commentary of this game, which is the third T20I of a five-match series.

WATCH THIS SERIES LIVE ON TNT SPORTS

You can watch and live stream every ball of the India v England T20I and ODI series in the UK on TNT Sports and discovery+.