IND vs ENG 3rd T20I Highlights: England beat India by 26 runs, Varun Chakravarthy wins POTM

England defeated India by 26 runs in the third T20I in Rajkot. They bowled well and smartly to put pressure on India, which they failed to cope with. The series stands 2-1 after three matches.

Dhruv Jurel tried fancy, only to keeper Phil Salt to catch it. India are 140/9. Brydon Carse picked up his first wicket of the match.

Mohammed Shami departed after scoring seven runs. Jamie Overton picked up the wicket. India are 140/8. Only a matter of time before England pull one back in the series.

Is that the final nail in the coffin? Hardik has been caught at long-off. He could not find the elevation this time. India now staring down the barell.

This is not going India's way. Archer gets Axar and India are now 123/6 after 17.2. Still need 49 more from 16.

It seems there is something on the pitch. The Indian batters haven't got going too. The 171-run target now seems mountain. The required rate is over 15 and India need some magic here.

India have now lost half of their side. Washington Sundar's struggle comes to an end. He mistimes it to long-off and is dismissed on six off 15.

Adil Rashid deceived Tilak Varma with the turn. Tilak Varma left bamboozled. He departed for 18 runs off 14 deliveries. India are 68/4 after eight overs.

Suryakumar Yadav departed after scoring 14 runs. The India captain once again struggled to get going after a decent start. The hosts are under immense pressure. They are reduced 48/3 after 5.1 overs.

Jofra Archer holds on to complete a brilliant catch. Opener Abhishek Sharma departed after scoring 24 runs off 14 deliveries. Brydon Carse picked up the wicket as India are 31/2

Jofra gets Sanju Samson caught at mid-on in his second over. Samson could not time his pull and has given it away. SKY is in at No.3, ahead of Tilak

Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma open the batting for India in Rajkot. Jofra Archer has been handed the new ball. Equation remains simple for the Three Lions. They need quick wickets.

Hardik Pandya concedes nine runs in the final over as England posted 171 runs in the first innings. Good recovery after the middle order flopped. Can England defend this? Time will tell. The second innings awaits.

Hardik comes and strikes straightaway. Livingstone looked to go big and has holed it out to long-on with no timing on this. England 147/9 after 17.1 overs

Varun Chakravarthy looks unplayable. Broke Jofra Archer's defence to send him packing for none. England are in trouble.

Brydon Carse departed after scoring three runs. Varun Chakravarthy picked up his fourth wicket. Things look easy for India at the moment. The visitors are 127/7 after 15.4 overs.

Varun Chakravarthy sent Jamie Smith packing for six runs. In the next delivery, he picked up the wicket of Jamie Overton. On a flat deck, England losing wickets like House of cards. Can Varun clinch his maiden international hat-trick? No... as Brydon Carse defends that one.

Ravi Bishnoi sends Harry Brook packing. He departed after scoring only eight runs off 10 deliveries. The England international attempted to play a sweep but ended up dragging the ball to his stumps. Bishnoi clinches his first wicket of the series. England are 108/4 after 12.4 overs.

Duckett tried to keep up with the tempo. Dances down the track to clear the ropes but the ball went straight to Abhishek Sharma. Axar Patel gave the breakthrough. England are reduced to 87/3 after 10 overs.

Opener Ben Duckett finally arrived to the party. He smashed a half-century in 26 balls. 

England captain Jos Buttler departed after scoring 24 runs. He struggled against the spinners as Varun Chakravarthy gave the breakthrough for India. England are 83/2 after nine overs. 

England managed a cracking start after the initial setback. Ben Duckett seems to be in the zone. He looks threatening and ready to play all sorts of shorts. India miss Arshdeep Singh? Looks like. 

Hardik Pandya dismissed Phil Salt in his first over. The opener departed after scoring seven runs. England look to be in trouble early on. The 28-year-old smacked it straight to Abhishek Sharma, who was stationed in the cover region. 

Mohammed Shami opens the bowling for India while Ben Duckett and Phil Salt open for England.

Suryakumar Yadav: We will bowl first, looks nice and hard, don't think it will change later as well. Rajkot has always been a good track, sure it will be a sporting one. We wanted to play a different brand of cricket but at the same time you need to understand the situation and he (Tilak) bailed the side out. We'll look at it as a 3 game series from here, boys are charged up. Arshdeep is resting, Shami comes in.

Jos Buttler: Looks a really good surface, looking forward to batting. We would've chased as well. Looks a good wicket, guys have had a good practice yesterday and we're excited for the match. Was a really good game of cricket, we fought really hard and pushed them all the way. We need to play really well tonight. We know how well India play, they're a strong team. We need a good total to defend. Same team but Jamie Smith will keep wickets, Salt has got a little stiff calf.

England (Playing XI): Philip Salt, Ben Duckett, Jos Buttler (c), Harry Brook, Liam Livingstone, Jamie Smith (wk), Jamie Overton, Brydon Carse, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Mark Wood

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

Mohammed Shami to play an international game for the first time in nearly 14 months. He replaced Arshdeep Singh in the playing XI.

India have won the toss and elected to bowl first. 

It's been over a year since Mohammed Shami last featured in international cricket. The stage was set for his return in the first T20I at Eden Gardens but he couldn't fit into the team's strategy. The same happened in the second game in Chennai. Meanwhile, batting coach Sitanshu Kotak highlighted that the pacer is fit but his return is up to the team management as they don't want to overload him ahead of the Champions Trophy 2025.

The surface at Niranjan Shah Stadium usually assists the batters. The ground is known for producing high-scoring contests. Meanwhile, bowling first will be the ideal thing to do as dew can play a massive part in the second half of the game.

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of the third T20I between India and England from Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot. The Suryakumar Yadav-led side won back-to-back games in Kolkata and Chennai and will be hoping to seal the series in the third match. Can England script a comeback? That's the question of the day. Toss is a little more than an hour away. Stay tuned.