Tammy Beaumont knock of 59 went in vain, as England Women went down to India Women by eight runs in the second T20 international at the County Ground, Hove on Sunday.
After being sent into bat by England skipper, India got off to a fantastic start as openers Shafali Verma and Smriti Mandhana added 70 runs for the opening wicket.
Freya Davies provided the much needed breakthrough by dismissing Mandhana for 20.
In the very next over, Shafali fell two run short of what would have been a well deserved fifty as she spooned a catch to Nat Sciver.
Harmanpreet Kaur who had a lean patch with the bat showed some spark with some vintage shots before perishing to Sarah Glenn in the 16th over for 31.
England bowlers managed to put on the brakes over the India batters, as the visitors ended up with 148/4 in their allotted 20 overs.
Chasing 149, England got off to a bad start as opener Danni Wyatt was dismissed by Arundhati Reddy in the second over. Natalie Sciver was run out for 1 as England were reduced to 31/2.
The pair of Beaumont and Heather Knight added 75 runs for the third wicket, before the former was trapped leg before wicket by Deepti Sharma for 59.
Soon after, Knight was run out for 30 as the home side were in a spot of bother at 106/4.
The hosts middle and lower order crumbled under pressure as the visitors registered a stunning eight run win.
Poonam Yadav was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/17, while Deepti Sharma and Arundhati Reddy claimed a wicket each.
The final T20 international will be played at Chelmsford on Wednesday.
India Women 148/4 (Shafali Verma 48, Harmanpreet Kaur 31, Natalie Sciver 1-20) vs England Women 140/8 (Tammy Beaumont 59, Heather Knight 30, Poonam Yadav 2-17)