England kept their series with India alive after holding on for a narrow five-run victory in an extraordinary third women’s T20 international at the Kia Oval.

England stand-in captain Tammy Beaumont’s decision to bat first – after winning the toss – was rewarded with a brilliant opening 137-run opening stand, before Sophia Dunkley’s dismissal for 75 sparked a flurry of wickets over the final five overs.

Danni Wyatt-Hodge fell for 66 as England lost nine wickets for 31 runs in 25 deliveries, eventually ending on 171-9, with Deepti Sharma (3-27) and Arundhati Reddy (3-32) impressing for the tourists.

Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana put on an 85-run partnership and quickly pushed India ahead of the required run rate, before Lauren Filer took two quick wickets to set up a thrilling finish.

India stumbled over the closing stretch and left themselves 12 from Lauren Bell’s final over, where the tourists fell short on 166-5 as England claimed the win required to stay in the five-match series with two more games to play.

How England held on to claim thrilling victory

England experienced early top-order wickets in the first two matches of the series but avoided a repeat performance when batting first, reaching 44 without loss in the powerplay despite some unconvincing shots from an out-of-form Wyatt-Hodge.

Wyatt-Hodge was dropped by Rodrigues when on 19 but cleared the same fielder for a maximum in the next over, with Dunkley completing a 35-ball half-century – her sixth in women’s T20Is – before both accelerated the run rate after halfway.

The pair brought up their century stand inside 77 balls and remained unbeaten until Dunkley was caught and bowled off a full ball from Sharma in the 16th over, before a quick collapse saw Reddy remove Alice Capsey (two), Wyatt-Hodge and Amy Jones (nought) in the space of five balls.

Wickets fell at pace as Yadav bowled Beaumont (two) and Richa Ghosh stumped Paige Scholfield (four), who came charging down the wicket for the first of successive scalps for Charani in the penultimate over.

Charani also claimed Issy Wong, who gloved her first ball behind, while Sharma dismissed Ecclestone (10) caught and bowled and Filer (nought) during the first two balls of an eventful final over that saw England set India 172 for victory.

Verma received an early reprieve in India’s chase as Bell dropped her top-edge at deep third and spilled the ball over the boundary, with India’s openers capitalising to bring up their 50 stand early in the sixth over.

Bell took a brilliant one-handed catch off Verma in the deep but only as she dived over the boundary, resulting in a maximum, with Verma reaching 47 before being bowled by Sophie Ecclestone in the ninth over.

India kept piling towards their victory target as Mandhana completed her T20I half-century, with the visitors 123-1 when Rodrigues (20) was caught behind off Filer to keep England hopes alive.

Capsey dropped a routine catch off Kaur but Filer added another wicket from the next delivery, as Mandhana top-edged and saw the ball loop to mid-on, while Ghosh survived after a first-ball duck after review when replays showed the ball coming off her helmet.

Ghosh was dropped on five by a diving Bell but was removed when Dean produced a stunning catch off Wong in the deep, leaving India requiring 12 from the final over, where Bell had Harmanpreet Kaur (23) caught at mid-off from the last ball when India’s captain was chasing a match-winning six.

‘Massive moment’ – England celebrate dramatic win

Player of the match Sophia Dunkley: “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.

“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 [finish] was absolutely unreal. I don’t think I’ve ever played in a game like that. It was a great night to be involved in.”

England stand-in captain Tammy Beaumont: “That’s what you live for in cricket and getting to captain tonight, they are the moments you live for. 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.

“I think this was a massive moment for this team. To lose Nat [Sciver-Brunt] a couple of days ago, for us to step up with quite a young, inexperienced team – we know it wasn’t a perfect game – we now believe we can go toe to toe with this India team.”

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

“The fielding was outstanding today, 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.”

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.