England seal T20I series against India with nine-wicket win

BRISTOL: England wrapped up their Twenty20 International series against India with a commanding nine-wicket victory on Thursday, moving into an unassailable 3-0 lead with one match still to play.

Led by captain Harry Brook, England chased down India’s 158-7 with more than six overs remaining. Brook finished unbeaten on 79 from 35 balls, striking eight fours and four sixes, while Phil Salt made 59 not out, an innings featuring nine fours and a six. Their unbroken partnership after the early loss of Jos Buttler carried England comfortably to the target.

The result followed England’s 125-run win at Trent Bridge two days earlier, a defeat that had been India’s heaviest in T20 cricket by runs. Saturday’s final match of the series will be played at Southampton.

England bowlers set up the chase

England’s fast bowlers again played a central role after India chose to bat first. Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue took two wickets each, backing up their strong performances in Nottingham. India did improve on their total from the previous game, when they were dismissed for 76, but still struggled to put together enough momentum.

Teenage opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi hit Tongue for a boundary through cover and also upper-cut him for six, but the 15-year-old again could not go beyond his age after scores of 13 and 14 in the first two matches. He made 15 before miscuing Archer to mid-on, falling to his Rajasthan Royals teammate for the second game in a row.

Ishan Kishan also fell attempting the pull shot, while leg-spinner Adil Rashid ran in to take a catch off his own bowling to dismiss Abhishek Sharma and reduce India to 48-3. Shreyas Iyer and Shivam Dube then rebuilt the innings, though at a measured pace. Their fourth-wicket stand produced 53 runs from 43 balls before Dube was caught in the deep off a slower delivery from Will Jacks.

Iyer offered India’s main resistance with an unbeaten 80 from 49 balls and brought up his second fifty of the series with a six off Rashid. Even so, England maintained control, with Sam Curran and Archer conceding just eight runs and no boundaries in the final two overs.

Brook and Salt dominate reply

India made an early breakthrough when Arshdeep Singh had Buttler caught behind for eight. After that, however, the chase became one-sided as Brook and Salt added 146 runs together. Salt, who had been bowled off a free hit on four, went on to punish the attack alongside Brook as England completed another emphatic win.

The defeat was India’s fifth in a row in T20 internationals, following their 2-0 series loss away to Ireland in Belfast. England’s win also came with India missing spinner Varun Chakravarthy and seamer Harshit Rana, both ruled out of the rest of the series with hamstring injuries suffered in Nottingham. The tourists had already arrived without rested fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah and injured all-rounder Hardik Pandya.

After the match, Brook said beating India carried added weight because of their status in the format.

It is always good to beat India as they are a strong side and have been for many years

India captain Shreyas Iyer said his side had fallen short with the bat and described the current period as one of change for the team.

It was a disappointing one, 158 wasn't a perfect total on the board and eventually we saw how quickly they (England) chased it down

I think we were a bit short on our execution. When we tried change of pace or something else they got boundaries.

This is a transition phase and we will be making a lot of mistakes. A lot of youngsters were playing in these conditions for the first time.