Abhishek Sharma’s all-round performance in the match guided the hosts India to a historic victory over England in the fifth and final match of the series at the Wankhade Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.
With this victory, India sealed the five-match series 4-1 after having already sealed the series.
Chasing a massive total of 248, the English side was bundled out for 97 runs in just 10.3 overs of the second innings.
Opener Philip Salt was the highest scorer for the side who slammed 55 runs off 23 balls, an innings laced with seven boundaries and three maximums. The wicketkeeper-batter smashed runs at a strike rate of 239.13.
The second-highest run-getter for the visitors was Jacob Bethell who scored 10 runs for his side. All other batters including Jos Buttler, Harry Brook and Liam Livingstone failed to make their mark in the last match of the series. All of them were unable to touch a double-digit mark.
For India, three wickets were snapped by Mohammed Shami ( 3/25 in 2.3 overs) and two wickets each were grabbed by Varun Chakravarthy (2//25 in 2 overs), Shivam Dube (2/11 in 2 overs). Abhishek Sharma, who bowled just one over also grabbed two wickets for just three runs, effectively sealing the fate of the game. Ravi Bishnoi also took one wicket in his one over where he conceded nine runs.
Earlier in the first innings, openers Sanju Damson and Abhishek Sharma came out to bat for the Men in Blue. Making their intentions clear right from the first over, the two slammed 16 runs against Jofra Archer.
The hosts lost the first wicket as Samson was sent back to the pavilion after scoring just 16 runs.
Following Samson’s departure, left-hand batter Tilak Varma came out to bat in the middle along with Abhishek.
Both the players took charge from there on and helped India to complete the 50-run mark in the fourth over of the innings.
After that, Abhishek Sharma completed his 50 runs in just 17 balls with the help of three fours and five sixes. This was the 5th fastest T20I century ever and the 2nd fastest by an Indian after Yuvraj Singh’s fireworks from the 2007 T20WC.
The Men in Blue reached the 100-run mark in the seventh over. In the ninth over, Brydon Carse dismissed Tilak Varma for 24 when the team score was 136.
In the 11th over, Carse took the wicket of the skipper, Suryakumar Yadav. The right-hand batter was dismissed after scoring just two runs.
In the 12th over, team India completed the 150-run mark. In the 14th over, Brydon Carse dismisses Shivam Dube for 30 runs.
India completed their 200 runs in the 16th over. In the 18th over, Adil Rashid dismissed Abhishek Sharma for 135 runs when the team score was 237. Despite regular wickets. India managed to finish the innings with a massive total of 247 runs at the loss of nine wickets in 20 overs.
For the England side, three wickets were snapped by Brydon Carse, two wickets were grabbed by Mark Wood and one wicket each by Jofra Archer, Jamie Overton, and Adil Rashid in their respective spells.
Brief score: India 247/9 (Abhishek Sharma 135, Shivam Dube 30, Tilak Varma 24; Brydon Carse 3/38) beat England 97 (Philip Salt 55, Jacob Bethell 10, Liam Livingstone 9; Abhishek Sharma 2/3). (ANI)
