India clinch T20 series against England

FAST BOWLER Harshit Rana came in as a controversial concussion substitute for his T20 debut and returned figures of 3-33 to help India clinch the series against England on Friday (31).

Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube, a left-hand batsman, put on 87 for the sixth wicket to lift India from a precarious 79-5 to 181-9 after being invited to bat first in the fourth match in Pune.

Rana and leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi then took three wickets each as India bowled out England for 166 to win by 15 runs for an unbeatable 3-1 lead in the five-match series.

"Three wickets in one over was too much," India captain Suryakumar Yadav said on his team's early wobble. "But the positivity, and the way Dube and Pandya showed their experience in the middle was great."

India extended their unbeaten T20 series record to 17 at home since 2019.

But Rana dominated TV discussion between commentators when he took the field for Dube, who was hit on the helmet by Jamie Overton in the penultimate ball of the Indian batting innings.

Rana made his T20 debut but his substitution, which was not like-for-like with Dube a batting all-rounder, did not amuse the visitors with cricketer-turned-commentator Kevin Pietersen slamming the move on air.

"It is still a dream debut for me," said Rana. "When Dube came back, after two overs I was informed I will be the concussion substitute."

Rana was instrumental in sending Jos Buttler back when he caught the skipper at short thirdman off Bishnoi and later got his first T20 wicket for India in Liam Livingstone.

Rana also dismissed Jacob Bethel and played a key bowling role alongside spinners Bishnoi (3-28) and Varun Chakravarthy (2-28).

Phil Salt and Ben Duckett set up the chase in a quickfire opening stand of 62 in 36 balls but their departure raised India's hopes.

Harry Brook smashed 51 off 26 balls to revive the chase but his dismissal off Chakravarthy, who took another wicket in the over, once again put India ahead.

The rest of the England batting wilted as spinners and Rana combined to pack them off in 19.4 overs.

Earlier England bowled first and speedster Saqib Mahmood, who was added in place of Mark Wood, made an instant impact when he had Sanju Samson caught for 12 with his first ball.

He struck again with the wicket of Tilak Varma to be on a hat-trick, although Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav managed to avoid it. Yadav, however, lasted only four balls before being dismissed by Mahmood for a duck.

Rinku Singh, who made 30, and Abhishek Sharma, with 29, both attempted to counter-attack with a flurry of boundaries but leg-spinner Adil Rashid broke through with Abhishek's wicket.

Brydon Carse took down Rinku but Dube, who was dropped on zero by Buttler at slip and went on to be named man of the match, and Pandya took on the Indian attack.

"Disappointing, we did some good things," said Buttler. "I dropped a catch and Dube played a really good innings. We were in a fantastic position with the bat, then lost wickets together."

Pandya smashed four fours and four sixes in his 30-ball blitz before being dismissed by Overton and Dube was run out on the final ball.

The final match is on Sunday (2) in Mumbai.

(AFP)