In the final T20I in Mumbai, India sealed a record-breaking victory, courtesy of a historic innings from Abhishek Sharma.
Sanju Samson set the tone with a six off the first ball, but it was Abhishek who stole the show with an explosive knock, lighting up the stadium with a flurry of boundaries. His sensational century propelled India to an insurmountable total, leaving England nowhere near contention.
With a commanding 150-run win in the fifth T20I, India clinched the five-match series 4-1.
This victory marked India’s first-ever 100+ run win against England in T20Is, surpassing their previous record of 90 runs from the 2012 T20 World Cup in Colombo. It was also England’s first-ever defeat by over 100 runs in T20I history.
At Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium, India posted a mammoth 247/9 in 20 overs—their highest T20I total against England. In response, England crumbled for just 97 in 10.3 overs.
Abhishek’s 54-ball 135, featuring 13 sixes and 7 fours, was the highlight of the match. His innings now stands as the highest individual T20I score for India, surpassing Shubman Gill’s unbeaten 126 against New Zealand in 2023.
His 13 sixes also set a new record for an Indian batter in T20Is, overtaking the previous best of 10 held jointly by Rohit Sharma, Sanju Samson, and Tilak Varma.
The 24-year-old left-hander reached his second T20I century in just 37 balls—the second-fastest by an Indian and in matches between two full-member teams. The fastest remains David Miller and Rohit Sharma’s 35-ball tons against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, respectively, in 2017.
Abhishek also made an impact with the ball, taking 2 wickets for just 3 runs in an over, leaving no room for debate over the Player of the Match award.
Returning to international cricket after 13 months in the third T20I, Mohammad Shami finished the series strong with 3 wickets for 25 runs in the final match.
England’s only resistance came from Phil Salt, who smashed 55 off 23 balls (7 fours, 3 sixes), while no other batter reached double figures.
India batted first after losing the toss. Samson got off to a flying start with 16 runs in the first over off Jofra Archer but fell soon after. Abhishek, however, launched a relentless assault, smashing Overton for back-to-back sixes to bring up his fifty in just 17 balls.
Tilak Varma joined the run-fest, helping India reach 95/1 in the powerplay, their highest-ever T20I powerplay score, surpassing 82/2 against Scotland in 2021.
Abhishek and Tilak put on a fiery 115-run stand off just 43 balls before Tilak fell for 24 off 15.
At one point, Abhishek raced to 94 off 31 balls, seemingly on course to break Rohit’s fastest T20I hundred for India. However, he took six more balls to reach three figures.
Shivam Dube, whose concussion substitute in the previous match had sparked controversy, played a quick cameo of 30 off 13 balls (3 fours, 2 sixes). Hardik Pandya and Rinku Singh failed to accelerate, and Abhishek eventually fell in the 18th over, but India had already piled on a massive total.
England’s chase started with a brief counterattack from Salt, who took 14 off Shami’s first three balls. However, Shami struck back by dismissing Ben Duckett. From there, England’s batting collapsed, with Buttler and Brook falling cheaply.
Shivam Dube struck with his first delivery to remove Salt, ending England’s hopes. He later dismissed Jacob Bethell, while Shami wrapped things up with two wickets in consecutive deliveries.
With the T20I series done, both teams now turn their focus to the three-match ODI series, starting Thursday in Nagpur.
Match Summary:
- India: 247/9 in 20 overs (Samson 16, Abhishek 135, Tilak 24, Shivam 30, Pandya 9, Rinku 9, Axar 15, Shami 0*, Bishnoi 0; Archer 4-0-55-1, Wood 4-0-32-2, Overton 3-0-48-1, Livingstone 2-0-29-0, Rashid 3-0-41-1, Curran 4-0-38-3)
- England: 97 all out in 10.3 overs (Salt 55, Duckett 0, Buttler 7, Brook 2, Livingstone 9, Bethell 10, Curran 3, Overton 1, Archer 1*, Rashid 6, Wood 0; Shami 2.3-0-25-3, Pandya 2-0-23-0, Varun 2-0-25-2, Bishnoi 1-0-9-1, Shivam 2-0-11-2, Abhishek 1-0-3-2)
Result: India won by 150 runs
Series: India won 4-1
Player of the Match: Abhishek Sharma
Player of the Series: Varun Chakravarthy