ABHISHEK Sharma thrilled the Wankhede with a spectacular record-breaking century as India completely decimated England in the final T20I by a massive margin of 150 runs.
Having already clinched the series, India’s batting might was in full flow with Abhishek leading the charge. India finished with 247/9 following the opener’s 54-ball 135 and in reply, England caved in to get bowled out for less than 100 despite Phil Salt’s sparkling half-century.
Under a bit of pressure, Sanju Samson pulled the very first ball for a six after India were sent in and followed it up with another maximum four balls later. However, Mark Wood sent him packing in the next over as the opener hit a short-ball straight to deep square leg. That’s where the Abhishek Sharma show began.
He hammered Archer for a couple of sixes in the following over and meted out a similar treatment to Wood too. Jamie Overton was welcomed with successive sixes that helped Abhishek bring up his fifty off just 17 balls, the second-fastest by an Indian in the format, and Tilak Varma for his part contributed with a flurry of boundaries as India broke their record for the highest total (95) in the powerplay.
Any hopes England might have had to bring down the scoring rate post the powerplay were squashed in no time as Abhishek carved out two off Adil Rashid, followed by another couple off Liam Livingstone. Much to their relief, England then got rid of Varma and Suryakumar Yadav’s lean run continued.
England did stage a mini fightback at that point by bagging the wickets of Shivam Dube, Hardik Pandya and Rinku Singh in succession and that mini phase probably ensured India didn’t cross the 250-run mark. But Abhishek caused enough damage at the death again, by adding to his sixes tally and eventually breaking the record for the most sixes (13) in a T20I innings by an Indian.
Salt’s intentions were very clear as he came out all guns blazing in pursuit of 248. Mohammed Shami was treated to 4,4,6 on his return but came back strong with the wicket of Ben Duckett. England then raced to 48/1 after the first four overs but the real challenge was always going to be against spin. And on expected lines, it was spin that wrecked any remote chances they might have had as Varun Chakaravarthy struck first ball to remove the dangerman, Jos Buttler.
Harry Brook and Livingstone followed suit as Ravi Bishnoi and Chakaravarthy absolutely killed the chase inside 6.1 overs even though Salt had raced to 48 off just 20 at that point. The opener then smashed Chakaravarthy over deep midwicket to bring up his fifty off just 21 balls and Jacob Bethell showed signs of aggression with a hit over the fence in the same over. However, in a matter of 2.1 overs, England went from 82/4 to 90/8.
Those wickets came from the unlikeliest of sources as Dube and centurion Abhishek breezed through that batting lineup by bagging two wickets each. Shami then came back to put England out of their misery as the visitors crashed to 97 all out inside 11 overs.