Jos Buttler hailed Adil Rashid as the ‘most important player’ in England’s white-ball team after he starred in the 26-run T20 victory over India in Rajkot. Having won the first two T20 matches, India would have taken an unassailable lead in the five-match series had they won the third game but the hosts fell 26 runs short of England’s 171-9.

Relive Englands 26-run win over India in the third T20 international at Rajkot as the tourists cut their deficit in the five-match series to 2-1. The fourth game is in Pune on Friday (1.30pm UK time).

England captain Jos Buttler set a new record for the most runs scored in Twenty20 Internationals (T20Is) against India during the second match at Chennai's MA Chidambaram Stadium. On a challenging pitch, Buttler scored a resilient 45 runs, surpassing Nicholas Pooran's previous record of 592 runs.

Skipper Jos Buttler once again had special praise in store for their unsung hero, Adil Rashid and reiterated his stance of branding the seasoned spinner as England's "most important player." Seven months ago,

During his innings, Buttler crossed the 600-run mark against India in T20Is, becoming the first player to achieve this feat. His current tally of 611 runs surpasses Nicholas Pooran's 592, with Buttler achieving the milestone in four more matches than the West Indian batter.

England kept the five-match T20 series alive by defeating India by 26 runs in the third match. Despite early sparks from Abhishek Sharma, India's batting faltered. England set a target of 172 runs, and excellent bowling performances from Jofra Archer and Brydon Carse restricted India to 145/9.

Only Buttler, with 68 off 44 balls, emerged with credit before India overhauled their target with seven wickets and 7.1 overs to spare.

England overcame Varun Chakravarthy’s 5-24 to beat India by 26 runs in the third T20 to keep the series alive.

England secured a 26-run victory over India in the third T20 International on Tuesday as some sprightly bowling kept the tourists alive in the five-match series against the world champions.