(Reuters) – Abhishek Sharma’s magnificent century powered India to a 150-run win in the fifth and final T20 international at Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, resulting in a 4-1 series triumph.
Chasing a mammoth target of 248, England opener Phil Salt (55 off 23) started well but had little support as wickets tumbled around him. Indian spinners took early wickets, leaving the visitors stumbling at 68-4.
England collapsed spectacularly to 97 all out in 10.3 overs with Mohammed Shami claiming three wickets and Varun Chakaravarthy, Shivam Dube, and Abhishek taking two apiece.
Put into bat, Abhishek’s onslaught propelled India to their highest powerplay score of 95 studded with 16 boundaries.
Abhishek played a quickfire innings of 135 off 54 — the second fastest hundred for the home side, however, other Indian batters underperformed against the England attack.
Brydon Carse managed to stem the run flow, claiming the wickets of Tilak Varma and out-of-form captain Suryakumar Yadav in his successive overs, while Dube was sent back to the pavilion in the third over of his spell.
Tilak and Dube’s cameos provided vital support to Abhishek but Suryakumar’s poor run of form continued as he was caught out for two, ending his series with just 28 runs.
Apart from Carse, Mark Wood, who replaced Saqib Mahmood, bowled a fiery spell and chipped in with two wickets of Sanju Samson and Hardik Pandya.
India will next play three one-dayers against England from Feb. 6.
(Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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