Ben Duckett and Liam Livingstone star as England stay alive in T20 series
Ben Duckett and Liam Livingstone star as England stay alive in T20 series
Share:
Ben Duckett and Liam Livingstone sparkled with the bat before a disciplined bowling performance led England to a 26-run win over India in the third T20 to keep the series alive. Duckett thumped 51 off 28 balls but England’s spin woes resurfaced in Rajkot as Varun Chakravarthy’s five for 24 saw the tourists slip from 83 for one to 127 for eight before they recovered to 171 for nine.
Livingstone was largely responsible after belting five sixes in his 43 off 24 deliveries and England were able to restrict India to 145 for nine and narrow the deficit in the five-match series to 2-1. Jamie Overton collected three for 23 and there were two wickets apiece for Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer, while Adil Rashid’s one for 15 – bowling India dangerman Tilak Varma – was outstanding.
While England claimed victory after being asked to bat first, they once more showed their Achilles heel again spin, with Chakravarthy running amok as he claimed four wickets for five runs in 10 balls at one stage. There remains question marks over the form of Phil Salt, who registered his fifth single-figure score in six T20 innings, while Harry Brook showed a susceptibility against leg-spin as he under-edged Ravi Bishnoi on to his stumps.
Victory also came at a cost with Jamie Smith appearing to injure his calf, having initially deputised behind the stumps in place of Salt, allowing the opener to concentrate only on his batting. Salt drove to Abhishek Sharma’s midriff to continue a barren run with eight runs in three innings but Duckett shrugged off a couple of low scores, settling with a scoop off the recalled Mohammed Shami.
