England Dominate with Ball and Bat
Pacers Jofra Archer and Josh Tongue delivered sensational bowling spells to condemn T20 world champions India to a 125-run loss in the third T20I of the five-match series against England at Nottingham on Tuesday. With this victory, England took a 2-0 lead in the series, as the first match was washed out due to rain. India can now only hope to draw the series at best.
India won the toss and opted to bowl first. Openers Phil Salt and Jos Buttler put on a power-packed 43-run stand before pacer Prince Yadav removed Buttler for 36 off 21 balls, including four boundaries and two sixes. England then slipped to 111/4 in 12 overs, with Prince and Harshit Rana taking wickets. However, Salt completed a commanding half-century, scoring 70 off 44 balls with six fours and three sixes, and stitched a 47-run partnership with Sam Curran. Curran remained unbeaten on 41 off 24 balls, and a quickfire 14 off 7 balls from Will Jacks, with two sixes, propelled England to 201/7 in 20 overs.
India's Batting Collapse
India got off to a decent start, with Abhishek Sharma (10 off 7 balls, one six) and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (13 off 5 balls, two sixes) hitting maximums. But Archer and Tongue sent both openers packing, reducing India to 29/2 in 2.4 overs. There was no recovery as India slumped to 52/5 within the powerplay and were eventually bowled out for 76 in 11.4 overs. Ishan Kishan (13) and Axar Patel (10) were the only other Indians to reach double digits.
Tongue finished with 4/28, Archer took 3/29, and spinner Adil Rashid claimed two wickets. With those wickets, Rashid (468 international wickets) surpassed former pacer Darren Gough (466) to become England's fourth-highest international wicket-taker. Archer now has 197 wickets, nearing the 200-wicket mark. Rashid also overtook New Zealand's Ish Sodhi (165 wickets) to become the second-highest wicket-taker in T20Is, with Afghanistan's Rashid Khan (193) at the top.
Historic Defeat for India
Archer was named Player of the Match as India suffered their biggest defeat by runs in T20Is. This also marks the longest winless stretch for India in T20Is, having lost four matches and faced one no result since winning the T20 World Cup earlier this year. India's total of 76 is their second-lowest all-out T20I score, next to 74 against Australia in 2008. Shreyas Iyer, the new T20I skipper, is yet to win a match under his captaincy.
