India wrap it in Pune

India players celebrate the dismissal of England’s Ben Duckett in fourth T20I in Pune yesterday. PICS/AFP

Often cricketers are told to "go out and express yourselves." Express themselves, the Indian batsmen did in the fourth T20I on Friday evening after being sent in to bat. No one expressed himself better for India than Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube, both scoring 53 and sharing 87 for the sixth wicket in 45 balls, bailing India out from 79-5 in the 11th over. Thanks to Dube and Pandya, India posted a challenging 181-9.

The Indian bowlers managed to dismiss the visitors for 166 to win by 15 runs and clinch the series here itself, taking an unassailable 3-1 lead. But England openers also expressed themselves in good batting conditions; left-handed Ben Duckett throwing his bat at almost everything to take them to 62 before himself being out off the last ball of Powerplay for 39 (19b, 7x4, 1x6).

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Hardik Pandya (right) and Shivam Dube during their 87-run stand

England lost three wickets in the space of 10 deliveries to slip from 62-0 to 67-3, thanks to the spin duo of Ravi Bishnoi and Axar Patel. Bishnoi even removed captain dangerous Jos Buttler for two. But Harry Brook kept England in the hunt with a 26-ball 51 before the match swung India's way again. Thanks to the mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy's twin strikes in his last over, England's 15th, including that of Brook, India were back.

Perfect Pandya

Earlier, Pandya did not play one wrong shot except the one that brought about his downfall, miscuing James Overton to be caught at cover. Until then, it was clean striking, going aerial in the vacant regions. Dube, who was included in the squad from the third T20I, following a side strain to Nitish Reddy, was roped into the XI for firepower in the batting. The tall left-handed Mumbaikar provided the firepower after being lucky first ball when he was dropped by Buttler at first slip off leg-spinner Adil Rashid. Pandya and Dube gave respectability to the Indian total after the first five Indian wickets fell to a well-set field and into the waiting hands of the fielders, placed precisely for those shots.

Shaky start

It all began from the second over when India suffered triple blows in the first over of Saqib Mahmood, who replaced fellow right-arm pacer Mark Wood and was playing his first match of the series. Mahmood invited Sanju Samson with a short ball first up and the inconsistent opener pulled straight into the hands of deep backward square-leg fielder Brydon Carse.

Tilak Varma needlessly charged down the track first ball and was foxed by Mahmood, the resulting edge flying straight to Jofra Archer at third man. Captain Suryakumar Yadav's lean patch extended to seven T20I innings with a four-ball duck, falling prey to the trap set, driving Mahmood straight to silly mid-on, Carse being the catcher again, giving Mahmood a three-wicket maiden over.

From 12 for three, it was left to opener Abhishek Sharma (29) and comeback man Rinku Singh (30) to repair the damage. Both made use of the fast outfield and the fielding restrictions to take India to 47-3 at the end of Powerplay, their lowest in this series after six overs.

Rana in as concussion substitute for Dube

Harshit Rana, the right-arm pacer who made his Test debut in the recent Border-Gavaskar Trophy, made his T20I debut on Friday in strange circumstances. Rana fielded as England began their run chase as a concussion substitute for Shivam Dube, who was hit on the helmet after missing a Jamie Overton bouncer in the penultimate delivery of the India innings. He came in to bowl in the 12th over of the England innings and struck in his first over, forcing Liam Livingstone to edge behind. Earlier, Rana held a catch to dismiss Jos Buttler at short third man off leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi.