England capitulated to a 150-run defeat as Abhishek Sharma’s masterful 135 off 54 deliveries inspired India to a 4-1 series victory in the fifth and final T20 in Mumbai.
Put in to bat after England won the toss, Abhishek hit 13 sixes and seven fours en route to recording the second-fastest T20 hundred by an Indian as England were set 248 for victory.
Phil Salt offered brief resistance, hitting the fastest T20 half-century of an English batter against India, but his dismissal for 55 in the eighth over spelled the end of England’s hopes.
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England lost a wicket from the first ball of the third, fifth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th overs, with Jacob Bethell (10) the only other player to reach double figures as India wrapped up their innings with almost nine-and-half-overs to spare.
England must dust themselves down from their heaviest-ever T20 defeat, with a three-match ODI series against India due to get under way in Nagpur on Thursday.
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England thumped in final T20
The hosts’ margin of victory was largely due to Abhishek, who also claimed two wickets, on a grizzly evening for England’s bowlers in a contest that was a dead rubber after India sealed a series win in Pune on Friday.
While Brydon Carse claimed 3-38 and Mark Wood 2-32, the rest of the attack had an economy rate well into double figures as Jos Buttler’s decision to bowl after winning the toss failed to deliver.
After Wood and Archer combined to remove Sanju Samson, Abhishek took centre stage, carting England over the rope at will when their line and length deviated.
Jamie Overton leaked 25 in his first over as Abhishek underpinned India’s T20 best-ever powerplay score of 95-1, and not even Adil Rashid could keep a lid on proceedings as he was belted for back-to-back straight sixes.
Carse went the distance off Abhishek too but a lifter did for Tilak Varma, out for a much more pedestrian 24 off 15 balls.
England kept making inroads into India’s batting, with Carse snuffing out the threat of Dube and Suryakumar Yadav and Wood dismissing Hardik Pandya. While Abhishek sparked back into life by flaying Rashid for another two sixes, he misread a googly and toe-edged to Archer on the boundary.
India finished one run shy of Australia’s 248-6 against England in August 2013 and, with the tourists needing more than 12 an over, Salt hit three boundaries from his first three delivers as Mohammed Shami’s first over went for 17 runs.
But England’s momentum evaporated when Ben Duckett went for a golden duck, scooping a shot to Abhishek at cover to signal the start of their batting collapse.
Varun Chakravarthy dismissed England captain Buttler for seven with his first ball, and then helped remove Harry Brook for two with a superb diving catch after he swept Ravi Bishnoi to deep square.
Chakravarthy took his tally to 14 wickets in five matches when he dismissed Liam Livingstone before Dube, with his first delivery, claimed the prized wicket of Salt, who edged through to Dhruv Jurel, keeping in place of Samson.
It was a procession from that point forwards, with Dube claiming a second wicket when he rearranged the stumps of Bethell. Abhishek claimed the wickets of Carse and Overton, both of whom were caught in the deep as India romped to a commanding victory.
Abhishek Sharma’s hundred in stats
- Runs: 135
- Balls: 54
- Sixes: 13
- Fours: 7
- Strike-rate: 250
- Balls to reach three figures: 37
What they said…
England captain Jos Buttler:
“We are disappointed to lose the series.
“We have done some things well and there are some things we want to improve on. We need to stick to the style of play and execute better.
“India are a fantastic side, especially at home. I have seen quite a lot of cricket and Abhishek’s batting was as good as I have seen in T20.”
Former England captain Sir Alastair Cook told TNT Sports:
“I think England were surprised by the onslaught and just couldn’t react with the ball.
“I’m not sure their philosophy of pace on the ball on these wickets works. You need a variety.
“Players aren’t scared of express pace anymore, especially on slow wickets.”
England in India – results and fixtures
All times UK and Ireland
- First T20: Wednesday January 22 – Eden Gardens, Kolkata – India won by seven wickets
- Second T20: Saturday January 25 – MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai – India won by two wickets
- Third T20: Tuesday January 28 – Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot – England won by 26 runs
- Fourth T20: Friday January 31 – Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune – India won by 15 runs
- Fifth T20: Sunday February 2 (1.30pm) – Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai – India won by 150 runs
- First ODI: Thursday February 6 (8am) – Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium, Nagpur
- Second ODI: Sunday February 9 (8am) – Barabati Stadium, Cuttack
- Third ODI: Wednesday February 12 (8am) – Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
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