Nottingham: Phil Salt’s magnificent half-century followed by Josh Tongu’s four-wicket haul helped England to a commanding 125-run win over India in the third T20I at Trent Bridge on Tuesday.
Chasing a tough 202-run target, the defending world champions could muster 79 runs in 11.4 overs before being bowled out, their second-lowest total in this format.
15-year-old opener Vaibhav Suriyavanshi and Ishan Kishan were the top run-scorers for India with 15 runs each, while Abhishek Sharma and Axar Patel hit the double target with 10 runs each as the other batsmen collected double figures against a ruthless England bowling attack.
Fellow fast bowler Jofra Archer took 3 for 29 in his three overs, followed by Adil Rashid with 2, while Will Jacks chipped in with a scalp.
Indian skipper Shreyas Iyer’s decision to bat first backfired as they piled up 201/7 in 20 overs in the third match of the series, giving them a 1-0 lead.
England started their innings smoothly as the opening pair of Salt and Jos Buttler put on 43 runs in 5 overs.
Right-arm pacer Prince Yadav, who replaced Ravi Bishnoi in India’s line-up for the match, provided the much-needed breakthrough for the visitors by dismissing Buttler, who scored 36 off 21 balls with 4 fours and 2 sixes, off the first delivery of the sixth over.
Salt then put on brief partnerships with captain Harry Brook (16) and Jacob Bethel (13), but Harshit Rana’s double strike in the 12th over reduced them to 111/4.
Curran paired the right-handed opener in the middle and the two shared a crucial 47-run partnership for the fifth wicket to turn the tide in England’s favor, which led to Saltin’s dismissal in the 17th over.
Salt was England’s top scorer with 70 off 44 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes.
Curran, on the other hand, continued to attack and England crossed the 200-run barrier with a 24-ball 44, which came with four fours off just 24 balls.
On the Indian side, Yadav and Rana took 2 wickets each and Axar Patel took one wicket.