Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue unleashed a devastating pace assault as England thrashed reigning T20 World Cup champions India by 125 runs in the third T20I at Trent Bridge on Tuesday, sealing the five-match series with two matches still to play.
The victory handed England an unassailable 2-0 lead after the series opener was washed out, leaving India unable to mount a comeback. Shreyas Iyer’s wait for a first win as India’s T20I captain also continues following a disappointing run that included a series defeat to Ireland.
The defeat was India’s heaviest by runs in T20I cricket and their second-lowest total in the format, behind the 74 they were dismissed for against Australia in 2008.
After India elected to bowl first, England overcame a brief middle-order wobble to post a formidable 201/7.
Openers Phil Salt and Jos Buttler provided the ideal launchpad with a 43-run partnership before debutant Prince Yadav struck to dismiss Buttler for a brisk 36 off 21 deliveries. England slipped to 111/4 after regular wickets, but Salt anchored the innings with a superb 70 off 44 balls, while Sam Curran’s unbeaten 41 from just 24 deliveries and Will Jacks’ late cameo of 14 from seven balls lifted the hosts past the 200-run mark.
Prince finished with an impressive 2/30 on debut, while Harshit Rana claimed 2/40. Axar Patel also picked up a wicket.
India’s chase began with intent as Abhishek Sharma and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi cleared the ropes early, but Archer and Tongue quickly extinguished any hopes of a successful chase. The pair removed both openers inside the first three overs, reducing India to 29/2 before triggering a dramatic collapse.
The visitors stumbled to 52/5 inside the powerplay and never recovered, eventually being bowled out for just 76 in 11.4 overs. Ishan Kishan (13) and Axar Patel (10) were the only other batters to reach double figures as England’s pace attack dominated throughout.
Tongue was the pick of the bowlers with outstanding figures of 4/28, while Archer claimed 3/29 to earn the Player of the Match award. Leg-spinner Adil Rashid chipped in with 2/14 to complete the demolition.
The match also saw Rashid achieve two significant milestones. His two wickets took him to 468 international wickets, moving him past Darren Gough (466) into fourth place on England’s all-time wicket-taking list. Rashid also overtook New Zealand’s Ish Sodhi to become the second-highest wicket-taker in T20I history with 166 scalps, trailing only Afghanistan’s Rashid Khan (193).
Archer, meanwhile, moved to 197 international wickets for England and is now just three away from the 200-wicket milestone.