Buttler exploits propel England to 2-1 series lead

Scorecard
Earlier, England won the toss and asked India asked to bat first. The hosts got off to a shaky start as they lost KL Rahul to Mark Woods’ searing delivery that knocked the stumps off the ground.

Rohit Sharma, who was brought back in the playing XI in place of Suryakumar Yadav, also fell early as he managed only 15 off 17 balls off Wood.

India have tested three different opening compositions in the three T20Is. The experimentation on top is yet to yield results as the highest partnership has been of just 7 runs in the series.

After a dream debut for Ishan Kishan in the second match, he lost his wicket to Chris Jordan trying to pull but top-edged it to the 'keeper for 4, leaving India stuttering at 24/3 in just 5.3 overs.

Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant (25) joined hands to steady the innings but Pant was run out trying to steal a third run off an overthrow falling short of the crease by a long margin.

Virat Kohli played a sensational 77* off 46 balls, registering his highest score against England in T20Is. After Pant's dismissal, Hardik Pandya (17) joined his captain in the middle in a 70-run-partnership to steer India’s total to 156/6 in their quota of 20 overs. Mark Wood was the pick of the bowlers who finished with the figures of 3/31.

England commenced their chase with caution against Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s swinging deliveries. Following Jason Roy’s wicket in the fourth over, Jos Buttler began his onslaught against India – hitting Chahal for two sixes in the same over.

Buttler and Dawid Malan (18) stitched together a second-wicket partnership of 58 runs. Buttler scored a Player-of-the-Match-winning 83 not out from 52 balls and batted with a strike rate of 159.6.

It was the third-wicket partnership of 77* runs between Buttler and Jonny Bairstow that saw England through to a comprehensive eight-wicket victory. Bairstow found his rhythm and scored a 28-ball 40*.

This match was also Eoin Morgan’s 100th T20I match. He became only the fourth player after Shoaib Malik, Rohit Sharma and Ross Taylor to achieve the feat in men's T20Is.

England now lead the series 2-1. In this pendulum of a series, India now cannot afford to lose the next match as it would effectively result in a series loss.