India endured a humiliating 125-run defeat against England in the third T20I at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. This loss became India’s worst-ever margin of defeat by runs in T20I cricket, surpassing the previous record of an 80-run loss to New Zealand back in 2019. Handed a challenging target of 202 on a surface that heavily favored batting, India’s lineup collapsed dramatically. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Ishan Kishan were the highest contributors, with a meager 13 runs each. England’s bowling attack tore through the batting order as India were dismissed for just 76, wrapping up a truly dismal performance. Earlier, Phil Salt anchored England’s innings with a 44-ball 70, helping them set a total of 201/7. This defeat also marked the first time India had gone five consecutive T20I games without a single victory. England Bowlers Overpower India to Secure Comprehensive Victory.
TOSS
India won the toss and elected to field.
PLAYING XI
England (Playing XI):
Philip Salt, Jos Buttler (w), Harry Brook (c), Jacob Bethell, Tom Banton, Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Liam Dawson, Jofra Archer, Adil Rashid, Josh Tongue
India (Playing XI):
Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (w), Shreyas Iyer (c), Shivam Dube, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Harshit Rana, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy
ENGLAND
England, and Phil Salt in particular, were kept under a tight leash early after being invited to bat. Arshdeep Singh opened with a maiden, restricting the right-hander straight away, while the second over yielded just seven runs. The power play was largely shaped by India’s seamers sticking to disciplined lengths and well-directed yorkers. Buttler shook off the shackles in the third over, picking up a couple of boundaries off Arshdeep before smashing Axar for a straight six and a four. Seemingly in fine touch, Buttler timed the ball beautifully, keeping the momentum going with a six and a four off Harshit as well.
Prince Yadav justified his inclusion immediately, delivering a leg-stump yorker that rattled Buttler’s stumps for 36 off his very first delivery. He then wrapped up the Powerplay with a composed, tidy over, ensuring England was kept to 49 in the phase without accelerating too sharply. Salt continued to look scratchy as Varun Chakaravarthy bowled a careful opening spell. Brook pulled off a magnificent lofted drive over extra cover for four, but then instantly miscued a short ball, handing Prince his second wicket. With the scorecard reading 74/2 after nine overs, it was time for Salt to shift gears. Sitting on 17 of 19 deliveries, he punished a Chakaravarthy half-tracker for six and capitalized on a pair of wayward deliveries in an 18-run over.
England plundered more runs off Axar and raced past the 100-mark. Rana returned in the 12th over and struck twice in quick succession—Bethell holed out to deep mid-wicket, while Banton upper-cut a short delivery straight to the fielder at deep third man. Yet England’s intent never wavered. Salt pushed past his half-century and put away a couple of Arshdeep half-volleys with authority. Sam Curran then joined the fun, getting off to a bright start as England laid the platform for a grand finale.
The 17th over unravelled badly for Axar despite his dismissal of Salt immediately after conceding a six. He strayed too short and too full in quick succession, allowing Jacks to pummel both deliveries into the stands. Curran kept the pressure on with two boundaries and a string of twos in the 18th over. India’s seamers did generate notable reverse swing, however, best illustrated by a superb penultimate over from Prince, who consistently nailed the yorker. He should have picked up Curran’s wicket, but Rana grassed a chance in the deep. Nevertheless, Prince stood out as India’s most effective bowler with figures of 2/30. Jacks was run out off the final over, but Curran’s unbeaten 41 ensured England crossed the 200-run mark.
INDIA
On what was otherwise a favorable batting surface, India’s run chase began with Sooryavanshi slicing Archer over third man for six, even as England had an obvious plan to pepper him with short-pitched deliveries. Abhishek effortlessly deposited a Tongue full toss over the point boundary for six, and Sooryavanshi followed suit, launching one over mid-wicket. However, the moment Tongue pitched it up with purpose, it paid off immediately as Abhishek was dismissed. Archer then cracked the chase wide open with a sharp, well-targeted short ball that Sooryavanshi could only glove through to the wicketkeeper.
The Indian batters played with intent but found the fielders at every turn. Ishan Kishan mistimed a ball sitting up nicely in the pitch straight to deep backward square leg, while Shreyas Iyer clipped a leg-stump half-volley to the identical fielder. Axar Patel counter-punched with a four and a six, but Archer had the final say, undoing the left-hander with extra bounce on the cut for his third wicket. India had surrendered half their side by the close of the fifth over — the first time in their T20I history they had lost five wickets within the opening six overs.
Every decision Harry Brook made came off perfectly. He pushed Harshit Rana up the order ahead of Shivam Dube and cleverly used the spin of Will Jacks and Adil Rashid to suffocate both Rana and Tilak Varma. Tilak, who had struggled to 3 off 11 deliveries, was stumped off Jacks — though Buttler nearly fumbled the chance. Brook then brought Tongue back swiftly to account for Dube, extinguishing whatever faint hope India still clung to.
The rest of the batting swung hard and fell cheaply on a day when England did nearly everything right in the field, aside from a strange mix-up between Buttler and Sam Curran that saw the ball drop between them. Tongue rounded off an impressive spell with a fourth wicket, and Rashid chipped in with a couple of his own. England needed only four bowlers to complete the job as India’s innings folded in 11.4 overs, wrapping up well before the Nottingham sunset.
Brief Scores:
England 201/7 in 20 overs (Phil Salt 70, Sam Curran 41*; Prince Yadav 2-30, Harshit Rana 2-40) beat India 76 in 11.4 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 13; Josh Tongue 4-28, Jofra Archer 3-29, Adil Rashid 2-14) by 125 runs.
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