England’s ‘fight’ helped them dig deep to claim a dramatic final-ball victory over India at The Kia Oval, but they will be without captain Nat Sciver-Brunt as they attempt to complete a comeback in the women’s T20 series.

The hosts had been in danger of falling into an unrecoverable 3-0 deficit in the five-match series against India, having lost the first two matches by 97 and 24 runs respectively before failing to build on their fast start to the third WT20I.

England slumped from 137-0 to 168-9 by losing nine wickets in just 25 regular deliveries, with three players out for first-ball ducks, with India then seemingly cruising to victory when they raced to 85 without loss – chasing 172 – in the first nine overs of their reply.

India were cruising at 123-1 with seven overs remaining but stuttered along the closing stretch, with England keeping the series alive with a five-run victory and reducing the deficit to 2-1 heading into the final two matches of the series.

“We’ve had a tough start to this series, for sure, so to come out there and fight like we did as a team is amazing,” England opener Sophia Dunkley, who top-scored with 75 before being dismissed in the 16th over, told Sky Sports.

“I’ve got a really good relationship with Danni [Wyatt-Hodge], so it was just great to take the game on and get us off to a really good start.

“That was absolutely unreal. I don’t think I’ve ever played in a game like that. The atmosphere, the crowd and the game were amazing. It was a great night to be involved in.”

Dunkley added: “We were pretty happy with the score [171-9] we got but we left 15 or 20 runs out there for sure and it wasn’t easy to start on.

“We knew if we bowled to our strengths we could restrict them through the middle so we were positive and I thought the bowlers were good.

“We did drop catches and it wasn’t perfect but the most important thing is we got the win.”

All-rounder Sciver-Brunt missed the game due to a left groin injury that she sustained in the second match of the series in Bristol and the ECB has confirmed she will be unavailable for the remainder of the series.

However, Sciver-Brunt is expected to be available for selection ahead of the ODI series against India, which begins on July 16, with Maia Bouchier remaining as her replacement in the T20 squad.

Missed opportunity for India?

India posted scores of 210 and 181 in the first two matches of the series, with Smriti Mandhana and Shafali Verma’s opening partnership at The Kia Oval seemingly paving the way for them to chase down a smaller victory target.

Lauren Filer removed Jemimah Rodrigues in the 14th over and then claimed Mandhana (56) in her next, with England conceding just 19 runs in a key four-over stretch to move momentum back their way.

“We were in the game until the 16th over,” India captain Harmanpreet Kaur said. “We did well in patches but there’s a lot of learnings.

“The fielding was outstanding, we bowled really well and after England’s opening partnership we came back really strongly. With the bat, we just ended up short by one boundary in the end.”

Sky Sports Cricket’s Charles Dagnall added: “They [India] were 123-1, needing 49 to win with seven overs remaining and nine wickets in hand. They were cruising this. I thought it was going to be 3-0 and a series defeat.

“The spell from Lauren Filer was the defining one. We talk a lot about her extra pace, how awkward she is… she got rid of Rodrigues and Mandhana and – from there on in – India struggled to adapt.”

Stand-in Beaumont keeps series in the balance

England made three changes for their victory, having stuck with the same starting XI for back-to-back losses, with Paige Scholfield, Izzy Wong and Charlie Dean all coming into the side.

Tammy Beaumont also stepped in as captain due to Sciver-Brunt’s groin injury and she will remain in that role for the final two matches.

Beaumont described the “battle” to restrict India’s run chase as a “massive moment” in their quest to challenge the world’s best.

“That’s what you live for in cricket and getting to captain tonight, they are the moments you live for,” Beaumont said. “We came out on the right side in the end.

“I’m all about the battle and the challenge – I absolutely loved the fight from the girls to get back into things there. I’m so proud of every single one of them.”

Improvement needed for England?

England avoided another flurry of top-order wickets, with Dunkley and Wyatt-Hodge both finding confidence-boosting half-centuries, but six dropped catches helped take the contest to a final-over finish.

Filer (2-30) was the pick of the England attack, while Lauren Bell recovered from conceding 31 from her first three overs to limit India to just six in the last, although Wong (1-36) and Dean (0-37) struggled to make an impact.

“We know it wasn’t the perfect game but we’ve been asking for improvement every game and there was some significant improvement,” Beaumont added.

“Now we believe we can go toe to toe with this India team and come out on top.”

England may have earned bragging rights over India in London, but they will have to dig deep again in Manchester on Wednesday to take the series to a final-game decider at Edgbaston.

What’s next? England vs India schedule

All time UK and Ireland; all live on Sky Sports

T20 international series

One-day international series

• First ODI: Wednesday July 16 (1pm) – Southampton
• Second ODI: Saturday July 19 (11am) – Lord’s
• Third ODI: Tuesday July 22 (1pm) – Chester-le-Street

Watch England’s fourth T20I against India live on Sky Sports Cricket from Wednesday July 9, with live coverage from 6pm ahead of the first ball at 6.30pm at Emirates Old Trafford. Not got Sky? Stream cricket and more with no contract.