AHMEDABAD, India, (Reuters) – Jos Buttler’s 83 blows didn’t defeat Virat Kohli’s glorious half-century as England beat India by eight wickets in the third Twenty20 International to go 2-1 up in the five-match series at Ahmedabad yesterday.
Kohli hit an unbeaten 77 off 46 balls to save India from a world-class fall and help them compete 156-6.
England surpassed the target with 10 balls to spare with Buttler grinding four sixes and five fours in his blistering 52-ball beat.
Earlier at bat, India got off to a horror start reflecting their batting battle in the series opener.
Their top order batters looked in discomfort against the speed and bounce of Mark Wood (3-31) and Jofra Archer.
Archer signed a throwback to recover Rohit Sharma off his first ball but England didn’t have to wait long for a breakthrough.
Wood defeated KL Rahul’s defense with a set submission in the third over, dismissing the opener for his second consecutive duck in the series.
If speed got rid of Rahul, the trick bounced against Rohit and Ishan Kishan.
India were 24-3 after the six powerplay runs and 55-3 at the halfway stage of their flyover before Kohli counter-attacked.
The home captain broke four sixes and eight boundaries as the hosts milked 56 runs off the last four overs.
England started cautiously and lost Jason Roy early after the opener played a reversal against Yuzvendra Chahal.
Buttler broke a couple of sixes in that over and raced to fifty 26 balls with his continued aggressive behavior.
The England batsman got life on 76, when Kohli, who is usually a safe catcher, dropped him at the point after he played invert.
Jonny Bairstow’s 40 unbeaten covers included the winning margin.
Ahmedabad hosts all five matches with the fourth Twenty20 International scheduled on Thursday.
The last three games are played behind closed doors following an increase in COVID-19 outbreaks in the state of Gujarat.