England captain Harry Brook starred with the bat as the hosts crushed India by 9 wickets in Bristol on Thursday, sealing a commanding T20I series victory over the reigning world champions.
With more over six overs to spare, England overwhelmed India’s meek 158-7, with Brook smashing an undefeated 79 off 35 balls and Phil Salt finishing on 59 not out. Salt hit nine fours and one six, while Brook hit eight fours and four sixes.
The victory occurred just two days after England’s 125-run flogging at Trent Bridge, which was India’s biggest T20 loss in terms of runs. With only Saturday’s series finale at Southampton left, they now lead 3-0.
With two wickets apiece, England fast bowlers Josh Tongue and Jofra Archer supported the outstanding performances.
With an undefeated 80 from 49 balls, India captain Shreyas Iyer offered some resistance.
However, after their unexpected 0-2 series loss to Ireland in Belfast, India still suffered a record fifth consecutive T20 loss when Brook and Salt, bowled from a free hit on four, ran riot at Gloucestershire’s headquarters.
After winning the toss, India improved on their terrible 76 all out in Nottingham.
Teenage opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi blasted Tongue to the cover boundary and an upper cut for six, but after scores of 13 and 14, the 15-year-old budding star was once again unable to surpass his age. As he had done at Trent Bridge, Sooryavanshi fell for 15 when he skied Archer to mid-on and fell to his teammate from the Rajasthan Royals.
Ishan Kishan was also dismissed while playing the pull shot, and leg-spinner Adil Rashid sprinted 20 yards to catch Abhishek Sharma off his own bowling, leaving India at 48/3. The innings was rebuilt, albeit slowly, by Iyer and Shivam Dube.
When Dube holed out in the deep to a slower ball from off-spinner Will Jacks, the fourth wicket stand was worth 53 from 43 balls. Iyer hit a six off Rashid to register his second fifty of the series.
However, Sam Curran and Archer gave up just 8 runs and no boundaries in the last two overs, demonstrating England’s excellent fielding performance as India struggled.
Jos Buttler was caught behind for 8 by Arshdeep Singh, who made an early breakthrough for India. However, from that point on, Salt and Brook shared a stand of 146, to take England to victory.
