Eoin Morgan admitted England had surrendered a winning position after death bowling hero Jasprit Bumrah pulled off a miracle victory for India in Nagpur.
The tourists required just eight to win from the final over of the contest with Joe Root and Jos Buttler at the crease, but could only muster two scampered singles as both set batsmen were dismissed.
India defended their total of 144-8 with five runs to spare, meaning the series is locked at 1-1 heading into Wednesday’s deciding fixture.
“We were in the driving seat up until the last over,” said the England skipper.
“We didn’t start the over well as we lost batsmen who had been in for a while. Fair play to Bumrah who displayed a match winning final over.
“It’s extremely competitive with two teams chomping at the bit to win. It’s all down to Bangalore and I look forward to it.”
Virat Kohli survived a huge lbw appeal against Chris Jordan on-route to posting a brisk 21 at the top of the Indian order.
A smart change of pace from Jordan saw India’s captain caught by Liam Dawson in the deep, with the Sussex paceman reverting to catcher for the next dismissal as Suresh Raina fell victim to Adil Rashid.
The spinning combination of Moeen Ali and Rashid continued to restrict India as Rahul attempted to up the pace after a slow start, only for his partners to continue to fall swiftly.
Yuvraj Singh was trapped LBW by a dragged down delivery from Ali for four, leaving India 69-3 having already used up more than half their overs.
Jordan continued to be England’s stand out performer and got his just desserts after dropping a ball short which Rahul swung to Ben Stokes at deep midwicket.
On a difficult batting wicket, Rahul had scored 71 off 47 deliveries – a contribution that would later prove to be decisive.
Manish Pandey’s 26-ball 30 ensured that the half-centurion wasn’t a loan-ranger for the hosts.
However, after he was bowled by the express pace of Tymal Mills, three further wickets tumbled in the final over of the innings, bowled by Jordan, who added two run outs to his already impressive contribution of 3-22.
A run-chase in excess of seven runs-an-over was far from a foregone conclusion on a pitch without pace and carry and – although Sam Billings (12) got up and running with a monstrous six - he was outsmarted by an Ashish Nehra short-ball and pouched by Bumrah at deep-fine-leg.
England were further derailed off the very next ball when Nehra removed Jason Roy for 10 with a leading edge travelling to Raina at mid-on.
Morgan (17) and Root rebuilt sensibly for a 43-run stand in 6.3 overs before the captain’s attempt to find the off-side boundary was thwarted by Pandya’s catch, reducing England to 65-3.
Ben Stokes joined Root and the duo continued to ease the tourists towards their victory target.
While Root focussed on accumulation, Stokes opted for brute force, collecting four boundaries before falling LBW to Nehra for 38 off 27 deliveries, England 117-4 needing a further 28 off 3.1 overs.
A ten-ball cameo of 15 from Buttler, together with Root’s continuing collection at a run-a-ball, ensured that the visitors remained in the driving seat until the conclusion of the penultimate over.
Bumrah had responsibility for the final over and the 23-year-old collected a crucial breakthrough off the first ball, with Root controversially adjudged LBW for 38.
Buttler was then deceived by two slower balls, and finally bowled by a quick one, meaning Moeen needed six off the last ball to secure a dramatic win and the series.
He missed, India triumphed and the series will be decided in Bangalore on Wednesday.
England return to Nottingham in 2017 to face South Africa and the West Indies.
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