India vs England 4th T20I Highlights: IND beat ENG by 15 runs, take 3-1 lead to confirm series win

India vs England 4th T20I Highlights: Harshit Rana returned figures of 3/33

India vs England 4th T20I Highlights: India dug themselves out of multiple holes to go from being 12/3 in the second over to win the fourth T20I by 15 runs in Pune. The win comes amidst significant controversy around Harshit Rana being brought as concussion substitute for Shivam Dube. Rana grabbed the opportunity by returning figures of 3/33.

Harry Brook fell to Varun Chakravarthy right after crossing the milestone and then dismissed Brydon Carse in the same over to help India nose ahead in what has been a see-saw fourth T20I in Pune. Ben Duckett and Phil Salt earlier blasted an opening partnership of 62 runs in the powerplay of before the former fell to Ravi Bishnoi off the last ball of the sixth over. This was followed by Axar dismissing Salt and Bishnoi getting the big wicket of Jos Buttler. England are chasing a target of 182.

India were put to bat first by Jos Buttler, who won the toss for the first time in this series and fast-bowling all-rounders Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube them from sinking to an embarrassing total by blazing half-centuries and getting the hosts to a score of 181/9. India had lost three wickets in the second over of their innings and reeling at 79/5 in the 11th over. Pandya and Dube put up a partnership of 87 runs off just 45 balls for the sixth wicket. The former eventually fell on 53 off 34 balls while Dube finished unbeaten on 50 off 30 balls.

Rinku Singh and Abhishek Sharma had earlier chosen attack as the best form of defence for India as they powered India past the 50-run mark in the eighth over. Saqib Mahmood, bowling for the first time on this tour, started off with two wickets off his very first two balls and then went on to pick another one in the same over in the fourth T20I between India and England in Pune. He thus got a rare triple-wicket maiden and it left India with a deep hole to climb out of just 12 balls into the match.

Saqib dismissed Sanju Samson and Tilak Varma with his first two balls of the tour itself and Suryakumar fell off the last ball. Jos Buttler won the toss at last, having lost it all three times before today in this series, and England are bowling first. India have brought back Rinku Singh and Arshdeep Singh for Dhruv Jurel and Mohammed Shami respectively and added Shivam Dube to provide some firepower in the middle order in place of Washington Sundar.

This series has been a battle between India's spinners and England's pacers, with batters on both sides blowing hot and cold. India won the first battle emphatically, then just about managed to keep England out in the second thanks to Tilak Varma. In the third, though, even a five-wicket haul from Varun Chakravarthy was not enough for them to avoid defeat. England seem to have got increasingly better at winning in these conditions in their own way as the series progressed and so India would know that they have their task cut out as far as keeping their lead goes for the rest of this series.

Some of India's batters will be under the spotlight today, particularly openers Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma. Both their positions are set to be threatened by Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill whenever they return to the T20 fold. Samson had done more than enough to get an extended run in the position thanks to his three centuries in four innings before this series. Here, though, he seems to have been completely found out by Jofra Archer and Co. Abhishek Sharma played a blinder in the first T20I but wasn't able to make much of an impact in the second and third matches.

Captain Suryakumar Yadav fell for a two-ball duck in the first T20I and then couldn't capitalise on starts in the second and third. In his last six innings, he has scored just 52 runs. This is the first time that he has gone six innings without a fifty in T20Is. However, assistant coach Ryan Ten Doeschate has indicated that India are not too bothered by this as this sort of a run is bound to come when batters stick to a high-risk approach.

"Someone like Surya has set such high standards [set] by himself, and I wouldn't say consistency or predictability is a particularly high marker in T20 cricket," ten Doeschate said. "The job we ask from these guys is to go out and score really quickly and the way the international T20 game has gone, we are allowed for a bit of consistency and a lean patch like he is going through at the moment."

England's ploy of throwing the kitchen sink at the Indian bowlers, particularly the spinners, almost worked at the Chepauk in the second T20I. The fact remains that they would have probably stuck to that tactic in Rajkot for the third T20I even if it hadn't worked at all in Chennai. Such is the Bazball way. They have their task cut out for them, though - in India they are facing a side who have won 15 of the 18 T20Is they have played since they won the 2024 T20 World Cup. India are also unbeaten in their last 17 T20I series at home, with their last defeat being a 2-0 loss to Australia in February 2019.

Here are some pointers to India vs England 4th T20I:

- India beat England by 15 runs, take unassailable 3-1 series lead

- Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel then swung the momentum back in India's favour with three wickets in the sixth, seventh and eighth overs

- England's openers put up 62 runs in the powerplay

- India 181/9 in 20 overs

- Shivam Dube raced past his fifty in 31 balls

- Hardik Pandya smashes past fifty in 27 balls

- Rinku and Abhishek put up a partnership of 45 runs off 32 balls for the third wicket

- Saqib Mahmood got a triple-wicket maiden in his very first over of the tour, dismissing Sanju Samson, Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav in the 2nd over of the match

- India have brought back Arshdeep Singh and Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube has been included for the first time this series

- Jos Buttler won the toss and England are bowling first

- India lost the third T20I by lost the third T20I by 26 runs which allowed England to stay alive in the series

- Varun Chakravarthy has taken a whopping 10 wickets in just three matches at an average of 8.50

- Adil Rashid may have taken just three wickets in the series but his economy of 5.60 is the best between the two sides by a long way

- Abhishek Sharma has been India's highest run scorer with 115 runs at a strike rate of 212.96