India stutter in Rajkot despite Varun Chakravarthy’s scintillating performance

Team India endured a bit of a heartbreak in Rajkot as England managed to pull one back in the five-match T20I series as the visitors pocketed a 26-run win.

Winning the toss, India opted to bowl first and Hardik Pandya was quick to strike, removing Phil Salt (5). However, a crucial partnership between Ben Duckett (51) and Jos Buttler (24) saw England staying afloat in the game. Patel struck with Duckett's wicket to open up the floodgates and it was Varun Chakaravarthy who, yet again, stormed through it.

Chakaravarthy got the better of the English captain, Jos Buttler (24) while Ravi Bishnoi struck in quick succession to remove Harry Brook (8). Despite wickets toppling at the other end, Liam Livingstone (43) provided the much-needed bookend to the English innings.

A bowling storm from Varun saw him raging through the English lower middle-order, claiming the scalps of Jamie Smith (6), Jamie Overton (0), Brydon Carse (3) and Jofra Archer (2). However, a late contribution from Adil Rashid (10*) and Mark Wood (10*) allowed England to post 171/9, a fighting total.

India had a bit of an early stutter as they lost Sanju Samson (3) with Jofra Archer producing the mishit. Suryakumar Yadav (14) did get the start but failed to convert it into something special and similar was the case of Abhishek Sharma (24), who did offer a glimpse of hope but that wasn’t enough.

The hero of the last game, Tilak Varma (18), couldn’t get the wheels rolling as India found themselves in some grave trouble. With the required rate increasing every over, India’s desperate attempt at accelerating misfired and they eventually fell short of the required total by 26 runs. Jamie Overton was the pick of the English lot with figures of 3/24 for England.

Despite the defeat, Varun Chakravarthy’s phenomenal performance that saw him racking up five wickets, and that effort also won him the Player of the Match award. With three matches down, England will have to battle hard to keep things afloat as the caravan moves to Pune for the next game.