Watch cricket video highlights of England tour of India 2025. Fourth Twenty/20 between India and England. Venue of the match will be Pune.
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England must be questioning how they ended up losing in Pune. They missed an opportunity to push the series to a decisive match after winning the toss, putting India in a tough spot at 12 for 3 and then 79 for 5, getting off to a rapid start on a flat pitch with significant dew, but ultimately lost wickets in bunches after reaching 62 for 0 during the powerplay. They remained in a strong position at 129 for 5 in the 15th over but lost two wickets in Varun Chakravarthy’s final over.
One of the explanations they will find is that they lost six wickets to spinners bowling on a reliable pitch with a damp ball. Another reason is India’s aggressive approach with the bat: they maintained their momentum despite losing wickets. Abhishek Sharma kept attacking after the initial triple-wicket maiden at the start of the innings, and Shivam Dube along with Hardik Pandya steadied the innings with some calculated hitting to score 53 each, helping India to set a competitive total of 181.
Yet another explanation—though they should not have allowed it to influence the outcome so greatly—will be that India took advantage of the concussion substitution rule. Dube, who was struck on the helmet in the last over and continued to bat, reported experiencing delayed onset concussion symptoms and was replaced by a full-time bowler in Harshit Rana, even though a batting allrounder like Ramandeep Singh was available. Making his debut, Rana captured the wickets of Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, and Jamie Overton to complement a six-run performance in the 19th over.
India approached the bowling the right way, targeting deliveries that weren’t seaming or swinging, yet they continually hit the ball directly to fielders. In his opening over of the series, Saqib Mahmood capitalized on these opportunities, aided by some creative field placements from England. Sanju Samson found the fielder at deep square leg, Tilak Varma edged his first ball to deep third, and Suryakumar Yadav struck one cleanly but directly to short mid-on.
India has often been criticized in the past for opting for conservative choices when faced with a decision. However, over the past year and a half, their approach has changed. Abhishek has emerged as a symbol of bold decisions. He ensured that India maintained some momentum, even when Rinku Singh found it challenging to score. This was not due to a lack of effort, though. After Abhishek was dismissed for 29 off 19, India decided to hold back Hardik to specifically target Adil Rashid with Dube.
Rashid responded effectively with a well-placed loopy delivery right from the start, complemented by an aggressive field setup, but Jos Buttler let a half-chance slip at slip. Rinku’s wicket at the hands of Brydon Carse meant that Hardik had to come in while there were still Overs from Rashid left to bowl. He emulated MS Dhoni by successfully defending against Rashid with solid front-foot techniques. Dube supported him by ensuring that Rashid finished his four overs with a cost of 35 runs, all while Hardik was easing into his innings with 13 off 16 deliveries.
He returned the favor when Mahmood and Jofra Archer resumed bowling with confident shots. Those two overs upon their return conceded 37 runs, leaving India with a decent total to contend with, even though Overton only allowed three runs in the final over. He also struck Dube in the head, an incident that would take on greater importance later. The pursuit began on a perfect batting surface, and Ben Duckett quieted the lively audience.
More significantly, he executed a reverse sweep against Varun to earn a boundary, scored 16 runs off Axar Patel’s first over, and appeared to be winning the battle against the spinners. Ravi Bishnoi, who had been presenting a bouncer-friendly strategy, took a risk with the final delivery of the powerplay. Bowling the only flighted ball of the over, he coaxed a mis-hit and sent Duckett packing for 39 runs off 19 balls.
Phil Salt, finally facing spin for the first time in the series, left his stumps exposed while attempting to cut Axar and was beaten by a ball that skidded on. Buttler fell victim to an extra bounce from Bishnoi, making the score 65 for 3. The fielder who caught the ball at short third, Rana, frustrated Buttler, as noted by Kevin Pietersen during the broadcast. Even at 65 for 3, this match was clearly in England’s control. Harry Brook and Livingstone began their partnership confidently, despite Brook’s struggles against spin throughout the series.
There was little turn to concern themselves with. They had built a partnership of 27 runs off 21 balls, and the required run rate was below 10 when Rana came on to bowl in the 12th over. Livingstone directed the second ball directly to the keeper, undone by the additional bounce while attempting a late cut. Despite that, Brook demonstrated how straightforward batting could be in those conditions. He took on Rana, scoring 18 off him in his second over and even striking Varun for two boundaries, but he then attempted a premeditated ramp shot off Varun.
Likely anticipating a seam variation to utilize his pace, which resulted in him lobbing a slower leg break to short fine leg. Carse compounded the situation with a slog-sweep that went straight to deep square leg in the same over. Overton and Rashid showed some sparks of life momentarily, reducing the requirement to 21 runs off 11 balls, but their efforts dissipated as Overton made questionable decisions by not taking singles, even though Rashid had hit Arshdeep Singh for a six.
