The World Champions India have been mauled once again by England. They were no competition to the hosts in this series. England mow down the Men in Blue by 56 runs in the fifth and final T20I, taking the series 4-0 and dethroning India from the Number 1 spot in the ICC Men’s T20I rankings to claim the pole position. Earlier in the day, India were late to reach the ground after getting stuck in the team bus due to traffic in Southampton! The toss was delayed by 45 minutes, and the start was delayed by 30 minutes.
Amidst the chaos, Shreyas Iyer won his 7th toss in a row, and this time, he opted to bowl first on a batting paradise, making two changes, with Sanju Samson coming back in place of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, making the headlines. Prasidh Krishna dismissed the man in form, Phil Salt, cheaply in the second over, but that was the final bit of happiness for the tourists today. England were 17/1 at the end of three overs. Jos Buttler started the onslaught in the second half of the powerplay before Harry Brook joined the party in the sixth over. The two batters went hammer and tongs, hitting some outstanding strokes during their world-record partnership of 233 runs.
England Complete Dominant 4-0 Series Win
There were multiple dropped catches and several overs in which England scored more than 20 runs, making life difficult for the Indian bowlers. Buttler returned to form and was at his brutal best, scoring his second T20I ton in the process. He hit 131 off 64 balls, including 12 fours and 8 sixes, and also surpassed Virat Kohli’s tally of 4188 T20I runs, jumping to the third spot in the list of most T20I runs.
Shivam Dube was brought on in the 19th over, and he was carted all over the park in the first half of that over before he dismissed Buttler and Jacob Bethell in successive balls, giving some relief to the visitors. The England captain remained unbeaten on 95 off 45 balls. He also hit 8 sixes and 4 fours in the knock, while Will Jacks hit 7 off 2 balls at the end as the hosts posted a massive 257/3 in 20 overs. Several records were broken during the innings, including the highest innings total posted against India in the shortest format.
Axar Patel and Prince Yadav were expensive, leaking 63 runs and 60 runs, respectively. Arshdeep and Prasidh were excellent, to say the least. Suryansh Shedge and Dube filled the 5th bowler’s shoe but were taken to the cleaners. India had to go bang, bang from the get-go. Jofra Archer again gave England an early breakthrough, nicking off Abhishek Sharma in the third over. Sanju Samson showed his class with a short stay of 27 off 14 balls, but played a nothing shot against Sam Curran that led the his dismissal. Ishan Kishan finally came to the party and stitched a fifty-plus stand along with Iyer, who was also looking in good touch.
Just after the drinks break, Liam Dawson broke the 55-run partnership by dismissing the Indian skipper for 28 off 16 balls. Kishan (56 off 35) fought hard and brought up his first T20I fifty outside Asia. Tilak Varma (53 off 25) had some fun with a half-century, too. However, India were always well beyond the eight-ball in this big run chase and ended up scoring 201/8. England were exceptional with the ball once again. Sam Curran was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with 3/36. Archer (1/41), Josh Tongue (1/53), Dawson (1/14), and Rashid (2/24) chipped in with timely wickets and kept India away from securing their first win in this series by a distance!