New Delhi: India was defeated by England by 26 runs in the third T20I match held at the Niranjan Shah stadium in Rajkot. The Indian team aimed to clinch the series with a victory but their leading spinner Varun Chakravarthy performed as expected maintaining his impressive form.

Varun Chakravarthy dominated the England batting order taking 5 wickets for 24 runs in his four overs. Prior to the third T20I he had already claimed 5 wickets in the series with three in the first match and two in the second. As a result the spinner has now amassed a total of 10 wickets in this series.

Chakravarthy has made history by becoming the first player to achieve 10 wickets in a single bilateral T20I series between India and England.

Varun Chakravarthy claimed the wickets of Jos Buttler Jamie Smith Jamie Overton Brydon Carse and Jofra Archer. He is now the third Indian cricketer to achieve more than one five-wicket haul in T20 matches.

India won the toss and chose to bowl first. England struggled initially losing Phil Salt early to Hardik Pandya. However Jos Buttler and Ben Duckett stabilized the innings with a partnership that reached fifty runs. Despite this the Indian spin attack particularly Varun Chakravarthy dismantled the English middle order. Liam Livingstone contributed a resilient 43 runs leading England to a total of 171 runs for 9 wickets after 20 overs.