Tilak Verma was stumped off the bowling of Will Jacks, before Tongue dismissed Shivam Dubey on his Nottinghamshire home ground and Harshit Rana was dismissed at backward point by a diving catch from Tom Banton.
Leg spinner Adil Rashid took two wickets late, due to which India, who won the toss and batted first, could only manage their lowest T20 score of 74 runs.
Earlier, Jos Buttler took England ahead by scoring 36 runs but he was bowled by Prince Yadav’s inswinging yorker.
Salt, after a composed start, hit several fours in an expensive over from Varun Chakravarthy, the opener launching a long-hop for six before hitting three consecutive fours in his 36-ball half-century. Sam Curran’s unbeaten 41 runs boosted the total.
England can clinch the series with a win in the fourth T20 in Bristol on Thursday, but Iyer said, “This is a great opportunity to come back stronger and not focus on what has happened in the past. We have played very poor cricket but there is a lot to learn too.”