Jofra Archer, Tongue hand India their biggest T20I defeat

Abhishek Sharma gave a light-hearted start. There were a couple of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi sixes. But that was all India needed to emphasize as their batsmen gave up alarmingly and fell to a low score of 76 in the third Twenty20 International at Trent Bridge. Josh Tongue and Jofra Archer bowled with velocity and hit the deck, powering England to a massive 125-run win and a 2-0 series lead with two games to go.

Sooryavanshi hit Archer over third man for six in India's pursuit of 202, despite the obvious plan to bowl short of him, on a largely good batting deck. Abhishek scored a six over point off a full toss from Tongue, who then dished one in the slot as Sooryavanshi launched him over midwicket. Abhishek then scored a six over point. Abhishek was killed as soon as Tongue entered the pitch, and Archer broke the game open with a well-directed short ball that Sooryavanshi gloved down to the goalkeeper.

The Indian batters not only played their shots well when they came out, but they also perfectly identified the fielders. Ishan Kishan hammered one that sat up in the pitch to deep backward square leg, before Shreyas Iyer picked up a leg-stump half-volley to the same fielder. Axar Patel counter-attacked with a four and a six, but Archer had the last laugh, undoing the left-hander with extra bounce on the cut for his third scalp. By the end of the fifth over, India had lost half of their team, making it the first time in their history that they had lost five wickets in the first six overs.

Harry Brook was successful in every way. He used the spin of Will Jacks and Adil Rashid to cinch Rana and Tilak Varma down with Harshit Rana moving up the order ahead of Shivam Dube. Tilak, who had struggled to reach 3 off 11, was finally stumped by Jacks' bowling, and Jos Buttler nearly ruined the attempt. After that, Brook swiftly reintroduced Tongue to hold Dube accountable, destroying any remaining hope for India.

Except for a bizarre miscommunication between Buttler and Sam Curran when the ball dropped right between them, the rest continued to swing and died on a day when England could do little wrong on the field. Tongue eventually took a fourth wicket, and Adil Rashid ate a piece of the pie for himself, taking two scalps. India's innings lasted 11.4 overs and ended well before sunset in Nottingham, so England only needed four bowlers on the day.

After being asked to bat first earlier in the evening, England, and particularly Phil Salt, were kept quiet early on. Arshdeep Singh began with a maiden to keep the right-hander in check, while the second over produced just seven runs. India's seamers consistently hit hard yorkers and lengths as they trusted their defensive options, defining the Powerplay. Buttler broke the shackles in the third over with a couple of boundaries off Arshdeep, before laying into Axar for a straight six and a four. Buttler was in the mood, timing the ball sweetly as he pumped momentum into the innings, taking the attack to Harshit as well with a six and a four.

Prince Yadav vindicated his selection with a leg-stump yorker that cleaned up Buttler for 36 off the first ball he sent down. With an impressive over to end the Powerplay, he managed 49 runs in the phase to keep England at bay. Varun Chakaravarthy started the match with a tidy over, and while Brook pulled off an incredible loft over extra cover for four, he immediately misplayed a short delivery to give Prince his second. Salt continued to struggle as Varun Chakaravarthy started the match. Salt needed to break free at 74/2 after nine overs. Batting on 17 off 19, he pummeled a Chakaravarthy half-tracker for six before cashing in on a couple of loose deliveries in an 18-run over.

As England soared past 100, Axar generated additional runs. Rana was brought back in the 12th over and he landed a double-blow - Jacob Bethell holed out to deep mid-wicket before Tom Banton upper-cut a short ball outside the off stump straight down deep third man's throat. However, England were not in the mood to slow down, so Salt let go of the handbrake and raised a half century before ignoring a few half-volleys from Arshdeep. England set the stage for an extravagant finish thanks to Sam Curran's own brisk start.

Even though Axar bowled Salt after he was bowled for a six, the 17th over went badly for him. He erred too short and then too full for Jacks to smash them both into the crowd, before Curran picked up two boundaries and a string of twos in the 18th over. India's seamers managed to extract considerable reverse-swing though, underlined by an outstanding penultimate over from Prince who did not miss his mark with the yorker. Curran should have been his, but Rana missed a chance in the deep, and the Delhi seamer ended up being the best Indian bowler with returns of 2/31. Jacks was run out in the final over but Curran's unbeaten 41 ensured that England got past 200.

On that surface, it appeared as though they missed a few runs with the bat. However, their bowlers had other ideas, resulting in the hosts' decisive victory.