Buttler, Brook heroics secure 4-0 win and No.1 ranking

Jos Buttler and Harry Brook put on a show in the final T20I in Southampton on Saturday (July 11) to star in England's facile win over India that helped them secure the series with a 4-0 scoreline while also toppling the T20 World Cup holders from the summit of the ICC rankings. Already under pressure heading into this fixture, the 56-run loss means Shreyas Iyer remains winless as India's T20I skipper.

India won the toss once again and opted to bowl first in the dead rubber. The visitors made two changes to their playing XI with one of them being a significant one as they brought back Sanju Samson in place of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi. The first half of the Powerplay clearly belonged to India as they kept the runs in check and also got rid of Phil Salt. But from then on, the entire complexion of the innings changed. Buttler brought out his trademark scoop against Prasidh Krishna before lofting one over long on for a six, then took on Arshdeep Singh in the very next over. Brook at the other end made India pay for handing him a lifeline. Shivam Dube completely misjudged a catching opportunity when the England skipper got a top edge and the maverick batter smashed the next two deliveries for sixes to add insult to injury.

Any hopes of the run rate coming down post the Powerplay quickly evaporated as the English skipper went on a rampage. He targeted Axar Patel in particular in an over that cost India 25 runs. In the process, he brought up his fastest fifty ever in T20Is before Buttler reached the landmark in the following over. With 9 wickets intact, all hell broke loose with the two batters throwing the bat at almost everything in search of a massive total. Their efforts came to fruition as no bowler was spared on a torrid day on the field for India. Suryansh Shedge, who had replaced Washington Sundar, bowled a couple of tidy overs before getting taken to the cleaners in a 24-run over. England then followed it up with a 21-run over off Prince Yadav to set themselves up at 189/1 after 15 overs.

Buttler, who had entered the 90s by this time, reached his century with a six off Axar. Even though Arshdeep and Prasidh bowled successive tight overs, England more than made up for it. Shivam Dube, introduced to bowl the penultimate over, dismissed Buttler and Jacob Bethell off back-to-back deliveries but ended up conceding three sixes and a four around those wickets. Prince, who had an outing to forget, walked off with a moral victory as he denied Brook a century despite conceding a boundary to him on the first ball in the final over. But the skipper's unbeaten 95 meant England broke their own record for the highest total ever against India in this format as they finished with 257/3.

India's chances of mounting a challenge took a hit very early in the run chase when Abhishek Sharma was sent packing by Jofra Archer. Samson did offer some hope when he smashed two sixes off Josh Tongue and alongside Ishan Kishan, he briefly revived India in the Powerplay. But England struck the moment Sam Curran came into the attack with Samson finding the fielder in tame fashion. Ishan continued to keep India alive in the contest alongside skipper Shreyas Iyer as India knocked off 110 runs at the halfway mark. But despite those efforts, they still needed plenty more in the second half of the chase.

Just when they needed to switch to another gear, India were pegged back yet again with Shreyas mistiming one immediately after the drinks break to perish. Ishan, the well-set half-centurion, followed him very soon. Despite the left-hander nailing a slog sweep, Salt near the boundary completed a fine catch to firmly put England on top. Even though Tilak Varma made a rapid start, India still needed 111 from the final six overs to pull off a heist. That heist never arrived as the chase completely fizzled out at the death with the only highlight being Tilak's rapid half-century that did little to reduce India's margin of defeat.

Brief scores: England 257/3 (Jos Buttler 131, Harry Brook 95*) beat India 201/8 in 20 overs (Ishan Kishan 56, Tilak Varma 53; Sam Curran 3-36) by 56 runs