India captain Suryakumar Yadav acknowledged that his side couldn't finish off England's lower order despite having them in a precarious position, whilst also praising Adil Rashid's exceptional spin bowling that troubled Indian batsmen during their defeat in the third T20I on Tuesday.
The home side had England struggling at 127/8 after 16 overs, but let them recover to reach 171/9 by the end of their innings. Subsequently, India's pursuit of 172 fell short as they could only muster 145/9, resulting in a 26-run defeat.
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"I felt there would be a little dew later in the day. I feel we had the game in our hands when Hardik and Axar were batting. Credit goes to Adil Rashid, he bowled really well. That's why he is a world-class bowler. He didn't allow us to rotate the strike," Suryakumar said during the post-match presentation.
"I feel you always learn something from a T20 game. I felt when we were bowling around 127/8 to 170, I think that was too much at the end. We've got to learn from the batting point of view. Got to go back to the drawing board and learn from our mistakes."
England commenced strongly as Duckett played an attacking role during his 76-run partnership with captain Jos Buttler (24 off 22). However, the visitors' position deteriorated from 83/2 to 127/8, until Rashid and Mark Wood's efforts helped elevate the final score to 171/9.
The England skipper Jos Buttler acknowledged the concern about consecutive wicket losses but praised the lower-order batsmen for increasing the total towards the end and commended the bowling unit for their crucial performance when needed.
"The guys bowled really well, it was nice to show off their skills. Not about how fast they can bowl, but how well they can adapt to the wicket," Buttler said.
"(Adil Rashid) He's the most important player in our team, we are fortunate to have Rashid in the team. He has all variations. Jofra is consistent, he won't go for sixes often, but he will come back for sure if he does."
Talking about his team's batting show, Buttler said, "I think the wicket looked different, Duckett played well. We lost wickets in clumps, we were disappointed. It was crucial to pick up wickets in the powerplay. Loved the way we kept pushing and kept taking the game on. Credit to Rashid and Wood, they had a crucial partnership in the end. That was the difference in the end."
