India have levelled up their T20 series with England at 2-2 to set up an enticing decider on Saturday.
The hosts competitive target of 186-8 proved too much for England to chase, ending up falling eight runs short.
Debutant Suryakumar Yadav was the star for India with a superb half-century as England just lost too many wickets at key moments.
The day started well for England when they won the toss, and as has been the case with every match in this series, they elected to bowl first.
The tourists were unchanged from their convincing win on Tuesday, while India made two changes. One was enforced as Ishan Kishan, struggling with a groin strain, was replaced by Suryakumar and Rahul Chahar came in for Yuzvendra Chahal.
India start on the front foot in their innings
Right from the get-go India’s intent was different.
A very attacking start saw the openers go after Adil Rashid, scoring consistent boundaries.
England got the breakthrough they were looking for as Rohit Sharma could only return Jofra Archer’s delivery straight to him and was out for 12.
Ben Stokes then picked up the wicket of KL Rahul, who made 14 before he picked out Archer who comfortably held on.
Adil Rashid’s delivery was then completely missed by Virat Kohli as he headed for the pavillion. Attempting to launch Rashid for six, he missed the ball and was stumped by Jos Buttler for just one run, leaving India 70-3.
Suryakumar’s maiden international T20 innings was proving to be a memorable one as he reached a superb 50 off of just 28 deliveries.
He would only add seven more to his tally however, as a superb catch from Dawid Malan saw Sam Curran pick up his first wicket of the match.
There was a lengthy delay as the third umpire was questioning whether Malan had taken the catch cleanly, but with no sufficient evidence to overturn the decision Suryakumar had to go.
Rishabh Pant began to frustrate England before he was cleaned up by Archer who sent his stumps cartwheeling for 37.
Hardik Pandya was the next to depart with an unbelievable acrobatic catch from Stokes, giving Mark Wood a wicket and moving the hosts to 170-6.
Two more quick wickets fell as Shreyas Iyer and Washington Sundar both fell victim to Archer, as India ended their innings on 186-8.
England try to chase down India’s target of 187 to win
Chasing a mammoth total England knew they had to start quickly if they wanted to seal the series with a game to spare.
After a conservative and composed start Jason Roy and Buttler began to attack, before the latter tried one shot too many.
Skying one straight up in the air, Rahul made a comfortable catch off Bhuvneshwar Kumar to deal England a killer blow.
A further setback was dealt when No 1-ranked T20 batsmen Malan was bowled with a superb delivery by Chahal, leaving England in a spot of bother early on.
Roy once again fell for a score in the 40s, as he picked out Suryakumar with a solid catch.
Jonny Bairstow and Stokes then grinded with a solid partnership to get England right back in the game.
India desperately needed a breakthrough and eventually got one as Bairstow tried one shot too many, picking out Sundar in the field.
A superb partnership between the pair of over 50 runs had taken England from 66-3 to 131-4, and right back in the game.
Things got better for the hosts soon after as they picked up the wicket they so desperately needed.
Stokes, sitting on 46, tried to find the boundary needed for his half-century but could only pick out Suryakumar to switch the momentum back in India’s favour.
England required 43 runs from the remaining 23 balls but with captain Eoin Morgan still at the crease hope was not lost.
However, with the very next ball that hope began to fade as Morgan picked out Sundar, giving Thakur the chance to take a hat-trick.
Thakur was unsuccessful in this feat, but held his nerve to restrict England to just 23 off his final over after Curran was bowled by Hardik.
A huge six from Archer gave England hope, requiring 12 off three deliveries, and this was increased when Thakur bowled two consecutive wide deliveries.
The dismissal of Chris Jordan all but extinguished any brief hope England had as he slogged straight to Hardik.
India ended comfortably to secure a narrow eight-run victory in a highly entertaining encounter.
It sets fans up for a hotly anticipated deciding match as to who will take the series on Saturday.
Coverage of the final T20 of the series begins on Saturday from 1:30pm on Sky Sports Cricket.
By Josh Mann
