Bristol, July 10:
Shreyas Iyer’s valiant unbeaten 80 went in vain as Harry Brook and Phil Salt made a mockery of the 159-run target with blazing unbeaten half-centuries, powering England to a series-clinching nine-wicket win over India in the fourth T20 International here on Thursday Opting to bat, Iyer appeared to be batting on a different surface, in his 49-ball 80 not out, his second as skipper, to guide India to 158 for 7. He struck five sixes and four fours, holding the innings together as wickets tumbled around him on a typical pacy English wicket.
In stark contrast to the India innings, England were never troubled by the modest target and dominated the Indian bowlers from the outset as the home side romped home in 13.5 overs to take a 3-0 unassailable lead in the five-match series.
Brook led from the front, blazing 79 not out off 35 balls, laced with eight fours and four sixes, while Phil Salt played perfect fiddle in a 42-ball 59 not out (9×4, 1×6) as the Indian bowlers struggled to get the wickets.
The defeat will be particularly alarming for the reigning T20 world champions, who have now lost back-to-back series within four months of their title triumph in Ahmedabad on March 8.
For skipper Iyer, who succeeded Suryakumar Yadav after India’s title triumph, it was a fifth defeat in six matches as he continues to search for his maiden victory as captain.
India had earlier suffered a humiliating 0-2 defeat to Ireland, while they now trail 0-3 to England after the series opener was washed out.
The final T20I will be played at Southampton on Saturday.
Missing Harshit Rana and Varun Chakravarthy because of injuries, India had Prasidh Krishna with the new ball and England had a slow start before Jos Buttler was removed in the second over by Arshdeep Singh.
From there on, it was a one-way traffic for England as Salt, fresh from his match-winning 70 at Nottingham, took on a wayward Prince Yadav who bowled a no-ball and a wide and was hit for two fours by the English opener.
It seemed baffling that the Indian think-tank didn’t persist with Arshdeep after he gave the breakthrough as Salt and Brook took Yadav and Prasidh to cleaners to race to 62/1 in the power play.
Brook then unleashed his full range of shots against the spin pair of Washington Sundar and Axar Patel, who conceded 37 runs across the eighth and ninth overs, effectively sealing the contest in England’s favour.
After missing on Washington’s first delivery, Brook clobbered the second down the ground for four and followed it with a swiped six into the leg-side and then hit back-to-back fours.
In his milestone 100th T20I appearance, Axar looked ordinary and Brook smashed him for one four and then a huge six to bring up his fifty in 21 balls.
Earlier, Iyer added 53 runs with Shivam Dube (22), but with wickets falling regularly, the skipper was forced to assume the role of the sheet anchor.
He cut loose in the 18th over, taking leg-spinner Adil Rashid for two sixes and a four in a 20-run burst.
That over, however, proved to be an exception as England’s bowlers executed their plans superbly.
Sam Curran conceded just four runs in the penultimate over, while England allowed only eight runs and no boundaries in the final two overs.
Jofra Archer (2/20) capped the innings with a two-wicket final over including the run-out of Axar.
The extra bounce once again took its toll on the Indian top order as Archer removed Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (15) for the second time in as many innings, before new-ball partner Josh Tongue (2/36) dismissed Ishan Kishan (4) inside the powerplay.
Adil Rashid then struck in his opening over, removing a well-set Abhishek Sharma (16) to leave India reeling at 48/3 inside seven overs.
From there, Iyer and Dube — promoted to No. 5 to counter the spin — steadied the innings with a cautious recovery.
Dube looked the weak link, struggling to unleash his trademark explosive shots before perishing for a 23-ball 22.
His slow middle-over knock suggested that Tilak Varma might have been a better choice at No. 5 but the Indian vice-captain also failed to complement his skipper getting out cheaply (11).
Earlier, Sooryavanshi’s swing-at-everything approach, which paid dividends on flat Indian tracks, proved to be his downfall again.
The crestfallen 15-year-old looked heavenwards after capping yet another poor start against his Rajasthan Royals teammate Archer.
Following his landmark debut in Manchester, the opener now has scores of 14, 13 and 15.
Sooryavanshi’s hoick had landed in no-man’s land earlier in the over, but he couldn’t escape Archer’s next back-of-a-length delivery outside off, holing out to Sam Curran at mid-on.
Kishan followed soon after when Tongue, switching ends, banged one in short. The Indian keeper-batter was undone by the extra bounce, top-edging the ball into the keeper’s gloves.
The biggest blow, however, came just after the powerplay when Rashid took a brilliant running catch off his own bowling to dismiss the fluent Abhishek.