Image: England thrashed India by 125 runs in the third T20I to take a 2-0 series lead / © Cricinfo
England produced a commanding all-round performance to thrash India by 125 runs in the third T20I at Trent Bridge, Nottingham, taking an unassailable 2-0 lead in the five-match series. Set a target of 202, India never looked settled in the chase. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals, and the visitors were eventually bowled out for just 76 in 11.4 overs. It was India’s biggest defeat by runs in T20I history. England’s pace attack did most of the damage. Josh Tongue led the way with four wickets, while Jofra Archer struck three times to leave India struggling inside the powerplay.
Adil Rashid and Will Jacks also joined the wicket-taking list as the batting lineup failed to recover from the early collapse. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, and Axar Patel all fell for low scores, with none of the batters able to build a partnership. Earlier, England made full use of the batting-friendly conditions after being put in by skipper Shreyas Iyer. Phil Salt played the key innings, scoring 70 from 44 balls, while Sam Curran added important runs in the closing overs to push the total to 201 for 7.
India had a few positives with the ball. Prince Yadav continued his impressive form by picking up two wickets, including the dismissal of Jos Buttler, while Harshit Rana also struck twice to keep England from running away completely. However, those efforts counted for little as India’s batting collapsed dramatically. England wrapped up a one-sided win and now needs just one more victory to seal the series.