England secured a series-winning nine-wicket victory in swashbuckling style against India in the fourth T20I in Bristol on Thursday.
The visitors spluttered and stammered to 158/7 before Phil Salt (59 off 42) and captain Harry Brook (79 off 35) blasted their way to a statement victory and first-ever T20I series win (3-0) over the world champions.
India were in the contest when Arshdeep Singh extracted an edge from Jos Buttler’s bat in the third over. And at the other end, Salt couldn’t buy a run as he finished that over on 0 from seven balls.
But Salt quickly turned a slow boil start into 26 from 19, while Brook himself was also cooking. The Three Lions leader fed on Washington Sundar’s offbreaks, taking him for 19 runs in his first over to get the rate down to a run a ball.
Brook raised his bat for a 21-ball half-century with a six in the ninth over off Axar Patel. Smelling blood, the pair continued to show little respect for the India bowling attack, combining for an unbeaten 146 off 70 balls at the close.
Earlier, England’s short-pitched bowling once again did the trick. Jofra Archer cramped teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (15 off 10) in the third over, then Josh Tongue’s rising delivery was too hot for Ishan Kishan to handle.
And when the dangerous Abishek Sharma was caught and bowled by veteran Adil Rashid, India were 48/3. Further down the order, Tilak Varma and Sundar both fell to the short-ball ploy.
In the midst of the carnage was captain Shreyas Iyer. He played a brilliant but lone hand to get India to a defendable total, finishing 80 not out off 49 balls.
Should a red-hot England defeat this wavering India outfit in the fifth clash in Southampton on Saturday, they will usurp them at the top of the T20I world rankings.
