Southampton, July 11 (IANS) Chasing a monumental target of 258, India’s run-chase got off to a flying start, but ultimately fizzled out as England secured a comprehensive 56-run victory in the fifth T20I here at The Rose Bowl on Saturday and clinched an emphatic 4-0 clean sweep.
With this win, England climbed to the top of the ICC Men’s T20I team rankings and dethroned India, the reigning world champions, who suffered their sixth consecutive defeat in the format after ending up at 201/8 in 20 overs, despite fifties from Ishan Kishan (56) and Tilak Varma (53).
India’s response began aggressively, with Sanju Samson (27) smashing Jofra Archer for two boundaries in the opening over. Samson, brought in place of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, kept the momentum going by launching Josh Tongue for two spectacular sixes in the next over.
However, Archer broke the 23-run opening stand in the third over, extracting extra bounce to have Abhishek Sharma (3) caught behind, while Samson (27) fell after slicing to cover point off Sam Curran (3-36).
Skipper Shreyas Iyer joined Kishan and played a brisk cameo of 28 off 16 balls before stepping out to left-arm spinner Liam Dawson, only to slice it to backward point in the 11th over. Despite wickets falling, Kishan anchored one end with his strokeplay and brought up a 30-ball half-century.
His stay was cut short on 56, laced with seven fours and two sixes, when he fell to Adil Rashid, playing his 150th T20I game, courtesy of a sliding catch by Phil Salt. Varma provided some late fireworks by smashing a blistering 24-ball fifty, decorated with four sixes and three boundaries.
Curran derailed any remaining hopes of an Indian fightback by removing Shivam Dube (14) and Suryansh Shedge (7) in quick succession, while Varma was eventually caught behind off Tongue for 53 in the 18th over. Rashid then removed Axar Patel (3) in the final over as India’s forgettable series came to an end after yet another hammering at the hands of England.
Brief scores:
England 257/3 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 131, Harry Brook 95 not out; Shivam Dube 2-22, Prasidh Krishna 1-38) beat India 201/8 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 56, Tilak Varma 53; Sam Curran 3-36, Adil Rashid 2-24) by 56 runs
–IANS
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