Abhishek Sharma 135 helps India seal biggest T20I win over England, bag series 4-1

IND vs ENG: Abhishek Sharma scored 135 runs and picked up two wickets as India won the T20I series with a clinical 150-run win in the fifth and final T20I on Sunday at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

In Short

• India beat England by 150 runs in Mumbai
• Abhishek Sharma scored 135 runs off 54 balls
• Abhishek Sharma also picked up 2 wickets

Abhishek Sharma helped India win the T20I series 4-1 against England after a dominating 150-run victory in the fifth match on Sunday, February 2 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Abhishek’s record-breaking spree guided India through to their biggest win against England in Men’s T20Is by margin of runs. 13 years ago, India had beaten the Three Lions by 90 runs back in 2012 in the Men’s T20 World Cup match at the RPS in Colombo.

India vs England, 5th T20I Highlights

After being asked to bat first, Abhishek went hell for leather and did not let the English bowlers settle down at any stage of the Indian innings. Sanju Samson set the tone, taking 16 runs off Jofra Archer’s first over, and although he got out soon, he had laid the platform for Abhishek to take off. Abhishek got to his half-century off 17 balls as India mustered 95 for one in the powerplay.

From there on, Abhishek and Tilak Varma built a partnership of 115 runs for the second wicket. Tilak lent Abhishek support with a 24-run knock before Brydon Carse accounted for his wicket. Carse was the pick of the bowlers for England with figures of 4-0-38-3, but his efforts could not stop the Indian batters from making hay as the hosts finished at 247 for nine in 20 overs.

Abhishek hammered seven fours and 13 sixes on his way to scoring 135 off 54 balls. Shivam Dube, who recovered from his concussion in the Pune T20I, threw his bat around for a vital 30-run knock off 13 balls. Although India lost a few wickets in the death overs, they never really lost any momentum. Mark Wood, who replaced Saqib Mahmood, finished with figures of 4-0-32-2.

England slump under pressure

England’s run-chase was all about Phil Salt, who looked the only batter to have any sort of control on the Indian bowlers. Salt took 14 runs in the first three balls of the first over from Mohammed Shami, but he hardly got any support from the other end. Salt hit the fastest fifty by an English batter in Men’s T20Is against India off 21 balls to give the English fans at the Wankhede something to cheer for.

Salt scored 55 runs off 23 balls with seven fours and three sixes, but once Dube got his wicket with an outside edge, it went downhill for England briskly. Barring Salt, Jacob Bethell’s 10 was the only double-digit score from the visitors as the Three Lions were bowled out for 97 in 10.3 overs.

For India, Shami was expensive in his first over, but he made a stupendous comeback to finish with figures of 2.3-0-25-3. Varun Chakravarthy picked up two wickets to finish the series at 14 wickets, one short of Jason Holder’s world record of 15 back in January 2023.

After his incredible knock, Abhishek Sharma also impressed with the ball, taking the wickets of Brydon Carse and Jamie Overton. After losing the T20I series, England will be looking to make amends when the ODI series starts on February 6 at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.